\ i^— - ^ - 


•r^ 


THE  MARVEL  OF  SPIRITUAL  LIFE 


“Surely  there  is  no  enchantment  against  Jacob,  neither  is  there  any  divination 
against  Israel:  according  to  this  time  shall  it  be  said  of  Jacob  and  of  Israel,  What  hath 
God  wrought  ?” — Numbei’S  xxiii,  23. 

“ But  we  will  not  boast  of  things  without  our  measure,  but  according  to  the  measure 
of  the  rule  which  God  hath  distributed  to  us.”— 2 Corinthians  x,  13. 

—4. 

These  two  passages  from  our  Holy  Book  suggest  a lesson  for  the 
hour  and  encourage  some  pardonable  exultation  over  the  marvelous 
growth  of  our  beloved  church.  As  we  study  the  real  causes  of  such 
a wonder  of  power  as  this,  they  allow  a certain  confidence  in  the 
continuance  of  the  Divine  blessing.  No  time  need  be  spent  on  the 
exposition  or  history  of  either  text.  It  is  enough  to  say  that  St. 
Paul  did  not  fear  to  state  what  he  believed  to  be  the  facts  of  the 
mighty  power  of  the  religion  of  Jesus  and  of  its  miraculous  growth 
in  the  individual  heart  and  among  the  nations.  He  did  not  scruple 
to  boast  of  what  God  had  wrought  in  his  day  and  of  the  transform- 
ing force  of  this  revealed  gospel  as  it  was  given  to  him  from  heaven, 
with  the  assurance  that  it  should  spread  and  triumph  gloriously  in 
the  earth.  His  only  caution  is  that  this  boasting  shall  be  according 
to  the  rule  which  God  himself  has  laid  down.  This  is  indeed  no 
narrow  limit,  for  it  is  always  according  to  the  ‘‘effectual  working 
of  the  mighty  power  of  the  living  God,”  and  u beyond  all  that  we 
ask  or  think.” 

The  other  verse  quoted  contains  the  words  of  unwilling  eulogy 
wrung  from  a scheming  enemy,  and  it,  in  fact,  exactly  states  the  cur- 
rent opinion  of  the  world  concerning  our  blessed  Christianity.  Time 
has  proved  that  human  opposition  is  harmless  against  all  forms  of 
it,  because  every  agency  which  seeks  its  overthrow,  or  even  its  lim- 
itation, is  at  last  reluctantly  compelled  to  confess  that  God  has 
wrought  its  increase  and  made  sure  its  final  victory.  Any  church 
organization  whose  members  have  faith  in  God  and  hold  that  faith 
in  love  which  works  for  the  good  of  men,  may  rely  on  omnipotent 
power  to  keep  it  alive  and  make  it  grow  ; and  it  may  also  boast  ac- 
cording to  the  measure  of  blessing  which  he  hath  distributed  to  it. 


84  THE  MARVEL  OF  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 


We  need  not,  therefore,  hesitate,  if  the  spirit  move  ns,  to  utter  a 
few  Alleluiahs  to-day  as  we  commemorate  the  hundred  years  of  our 
unity,  under  the  rule  of  one  discipline,  administered  by  one  board 
of  itinerant  bishops.  And  no  man  should  reproach  us  if  we  speak 
with  a modest  confidence  of  our-  expectations  for  the  future.  A cen- 
tury has  demonstrated  that  God  owns  our  methods  with  a measure 
of  success  which  has  been  reached  by  no  other  body  of  Christian 
workers.  Our  standards  of  doctrine  have  suffered  nothing  from 
changes,  and  our  system  of  operations  is  now  almost  the  same  as  at 
the  very  beginning.  None  of  these  are  by  any  means  as  singular  as 
they  formerly  seemed,  for  nearly  all  denominations  have  adopted 
many  of  them  with  slight  modifications,  and  we  may  safely  say  all 
admire  them.  Let  us  then  be  duly  joyfu‘1  and  give  to  the  Master 
the  praise  of  all  we  claim  to  have  done ; but  let  us  not  withhold  a 
fair  statement  of  the  good  works  we  have  alrQafay  accomplished  and 
under  God  hope  hereafter  to  do. 

Methodism,  as  a form  of  Protestant  religion,  or  as  a movement  to 
promote  the  interests  of  Christianity,  or  as  an  effort  to  “spread 
scriptural  holiness”  over  the  world,  is  not  yet  a hundred  and  sixty 
years  from  its  cradle,  where  the  Wesleys  rocked  it  in  Christ  College, 
Oxford.  Men  and  women  now  living  and  in  active  business  can 
look  back  and  recall  the  whole  half  of  its  life  and  work.  The  eyes 
of  every  one  seventy-eight  years  old  have  seen  the  best  half  of  its 
progress  from  its  germ,  the  Holy  Club,  in  1729.  Our  sainted  Simp- 
son, so  lately  translated,  was  born  almost  exactly  in  the  middle  era 
of  its  progress,  counting  from  the  real  conversion  of  John  Wesley 
anfl  the  formation  of  classes  in  1739  and  running  down  to  our  times, 
and  his  glorious  life  of  power  and  eloquence  has  covered  the  period 
of  its  greatest  growth.  In  the  year  of  the  Bishop’s  birth  the  Illinois 
District  appears  to  have  been  formed,  though  circuit  riders  had  for 
several  years  traveled  the  territory  occupied  by  our  conference.  The 
whole  church  in  1811  had  less  than  200,000  members.  It  had 
been  a body  with  a head  and  a policy  less  than  thirty  years,  and  as 
a movement  in  America  to  convert  men  it  was  then  not  fifty  years 
old.  Barbary  Heck,  Philip  Embury,  Robert  Strawbridge  and  Cap- 
tain Webb  had  begun  their  work  in  1766,  and  their  successors  had 
followed  the  settlers  wherever  they  had  set  up  their  cibins.  In  1784 
the  Methodist  ministers,  assembled  in  Baltimore,  accepted  or  elected 
two  Bishops  and  recognized  themselves  men  truly  and  properly  or- 
dained as  Christian  apostles,  divinely  chosen. by  God’s  spirit  and 
duly  empowered  to  preach,  to  baptize,  to  administer  sacraments  and 
to  gather  men  into  a church  organization.  For  eighteen  years  they 
had  been  converting  the  people  and  forming  classes  or  societies,  and 


THE  MARVEL  OF  SPIRITUAL  LIFE.  85 


they  had  inducted  into  these  eighteen  thousand  souls.  Their  own 
number  was  one  hundred  and  four.  They  had  scattered  themselves 
from  New  York  to  Georgia  in  fifty-two  circuits  or  appointments,  no 
one  of  which  touched  the  Alleghanies.  Not  a man  of  all  these  one 
hundred  and  four  was  to  set  foot  in  New  England  that  year  or  to 
tread  the  wilderness  which  hid  the  noblest  valley  of  the  world. 

To-day  the  number  both  of  members  and  preachers  has  been  multi- 
plied by  a hundred  who  remain  in  our  own  communion,  and  by  at 
least  two  hundred,  if  we  count  all  the  Methodistic  bodies  in  the  land, 
and  probably  by  five  hundred,  if  we  number  their  converts  who 
have  entered  and  regenerated  our  sister  churches.  That  is  a growth 
beyond  anything  in  ecclesiastical  history,  not  even  excepting  the 
apostolic  church  of  the  first  centuries.  And  if  we  reckon — as  jus- 
tice demands  that  we  ought  to  do — our  hearers,  who,  in  not  a few 
cases  are  as  much  christianized  as  some  of  our  actual  members,  we 
shall  bring  the  numbers  of  our  church’s  converts  and  adherents  up 
to  about  twelve  millions.  Our  church  has  this  year  in  its  temples  of 
worship  more  than  twelve  and  a half  millions  of  sittings  and  is 
adding  to  them  at  the  rate  of  two  thousand  a month.  This  indicates 
that  we  hold  ourselves  responsible  already  for  the  spiritual  instruc- 
tion and  moral  discipline  of  at  least  one-fourth  of  the  population  of 
the  nation.  The  various  bodies  who  hold  our  forms  of  belief  and 
usage,  by  their  differing  names  and  races,  black  and  white,  native 
and  foreign,  do  give  in  this  country  ithe  relgious  training,  more  or 
less,  of  one  in  four  of  all  our  people.  It  is  a burdensome,  duty  and 
a marvel  of  religious  growth.  The  increase  exceeds  that  of  the  pop- 
ulation in  a large  degree.  In  1790,  six  years  after  our  church  or- 
ganization, the  nation  counted  almost  4,000,000,  and  we  57,631,  with 
227  preachers,  having  in  those  six  years  multiplied  the  membership 
by  three  and  the  ministry  by  two.  The  nation  has  since  multiplied 
itself  by  fourteen  ; our  special  branch  of  Methodism  has  increased 
over  thirty-fold,  and  all  its  several  offshoots  have  grown  to  a hun- 
dred-fold. Our  progress  in  other  particulars,  as,  for  instance,  in  the 
main  elements  of  the  desirable  characteristics  of  a church,  vital 
piety,  or  genuine  religious  life  in  the  soul  and  purity  of  morals, 
general  benevolence  and  philanthropy*  charity  in  heart  and  speech 
and  kindly  intercourse  with  neighbors,  cannot  be  so  readily  calcu- 
lated in  figures.  We  can  only  estimate  the  relative  amount  of  these 
by  some  general  considerations. 

That  we  are  more’  truly  intelligent  may  be  inferred,  in  part  at 
least,  from  the  number  and  patronage  of  our  colleges  and  from  the 
emphatic  manner  iii  which  our  people  stand  by  the  public  schools. 
That  we  have  grown  in  wealth  and  in  social  influence  and  refine- 


; ^ ?*p — i 

86  THE  MARVEL  OF  SPIRITUAL  LIFE 


ment  Deeds  no  proof.  From  being  a sect  everywhere  distrusted  and 
ridiculed,  aud  often  derided  for  illiteracy,  we  are  to,-day  honored  as 
the  equal  of  any  and  counted  as  the  most  powerful.  That  we  have 
become  more  systematic  and  liberal  in  benevolences  need  not  be 
said  so  long  as  our  philanthropic  and  educational,  our  charitable 
and  missionary  enterprises  collect  and  disburse  annually  not  less 
than  $1,500,000,  and  all  are  managed  in  a most  admirably  efficient 
way. 

Sum  up  our  denominational  progress  since  1766,  or  from  the  day 
when,  in  1769,  the  twenty-sixth  British  Wesleyan  Conference  raised 
fifty-two  pounds  to  send  Joseph  Pillmore  and  Richard  Boardman 
to  America,  or  from  the  Christmas  when  Thomas  Coke  and  Francis 
Asbury  were  accepted  and  elected  Bishops,  and  the  history  is  a mar- 
vel in  whatever  light  it  is  seen.  Look  at  the  one  germ  planted  in 
Episcopal  New  York  by  Barbara  Heck  and  Philip  Embury,  another 
dropped  by  Captain  James  Webb  in  Quaker  Philadelphia,  and  the 
other  sown  by  Robert  Strawbridge  in  Catholic  Maryland,  and  see 
to  what  the  harvest  has  grown ! The  fruit  shakes  like  Lebanon. 
The  mountain  of  the  Lord’s  house  is  already  exalted  above  the  hill- 
tops and  all  the  nations  read  by  the  light  its  summit  bears.  These 
sparks  of  grace  kindled  in  the  hearts  of  the  lowly  have  carried  their 
fires  around  the  globe,  aud  their  beacons  blaze  in  every  land  and  in 
almost  every  province  and  city  of  earth.  Every  year  our  Bishops 
circle  the  world  in  their  travels  and  lay  our  obligations  to  preach  on 
hearts  of  every  race  of  meii.  Every  living  language  of  power,  sav- 
ing the  barbarous  Russian,  tells  our  version  of  scriptural  holiness. 
The  strong  German,  the  rugged  Norse,  the  polished  French,  the 
stately  Spanish,  the  old  philosophical  Sanskrit,  the  modern  Hindu, 
the  conservative  Chinese  and  the  progressive  tongue  of  Japan,  all 
vie  with  the  cosmopolitan  English  of  commerce  to  preach  our  doc- 
trine of  life  and  power.  We  are  now  knocking  at  the  gates  of  iso- 
lated Corea  and  driving  our  wedges  of  joy  into  the  rift  between 
Turkey  and  Russia,  where  Roumania  and  Wallachia  are  demanding 
political  independence.  The  “effectual  doors”  are  open  to  us  wide 
as  the  chambers  of  the  east  to  the  beams  of  the  morning  sun,  and  no 
shades  of  western  night  are  shut  against  cur  songs  and  our  prayers, 
our  hallelujahs  and  amens,  which  keep  pace  with  the  dawn  and 
travel  with  the  day  round  the  globe.  Like  the  carols  of  waking 
birds,  our  hymns  accompany  the  morning  stars  in  their  early 
marches,  intermitting  their  melodies  no  more  than  those  stars  veil 
their  fires  in  the  sky.  Every  tongue  of  babbling  earth  can  speak 
and  every  ear  can  hear  our  free,  social,  jubilant  gospel  of  full  salva- 
tion, and  the  world  exults  in  it.  What  has  caused  all  this? 


THE  MARVEL  OF  SPIRITUAL  LIFE.  87 


First  and  more  than  all  else,  indeed  the  all,  the  essence  of  the 
whole/ has  been  our  soul-life,  the  Holy  Ghost  creating  in  our  in- 
dividual members  a spiritual  or  divine  life.  The  first  Methodists 
were  alive ; had  Christ’s  life  in  them ; were  set  on  fire  from  above, 
and  cherishing  that  holy  flame  in  themselves,  they  set  other  hearts 
on  fire.  The  secret  of  all  their  stability,  when  less  than  a dozen  were 
left  alone  amidst  the  temptations  of  the  great  cities  and  their  wick- 
edness, was  this  strange  marvel — spiritual  life. 

It  has  been  the  wonder  of  the  ages  that  truth  and  virtue,  justice 
and  honor  survive  the  discouragements  of  vice  and  sin  in  this  world 
at  any  time,  and  that  love  and  .reverence  for  law,  and  faith  and  obe- 
dience'to  an  unseen  power  as  God,  should  abide  amidst  indifference 
and  ridicule,  opposition  and  active  persecution,  is  an  astounding 
problem.  But  that  this  divine  life  in  the  human  heart  should  thrive 
at  all  in  this  sin-governed  earth  and  at  length  be  able  to  propagate 
itself  into  other  hearts,  is  greater  than  a miracle.  It  has  been  re- 
served for  our  day  and  for  our  church  to  give  the  most  striking  ex- 
ample of  this  wonder-working  power,  one  so  overwhelming  that  it 
might  almost  astonish  a sanhedrim  of  the  angels.  Nothing  but  the 
promise  of  the  Master,  “I  will  be  in  you,”  “I  am  your  life,”  could 
have  given  our  people  this  power.  The  few  members  to  whom  Em- 
bury and  Strawbridge  preached,  and  who  gathered  and  prayed  and 
talked  of  their  religious  experiences,  with  the  divine  life  in  their 
souls,  did  not  simply  believe  in  the  necessity  or  the  possibility,  or 
the  power  or  glory  of  regeneration,  or  of  the  life  of  Christ  divinely 
given  to  the  soul.  They  had  felt  this  life  and  knew  it  each  for  him- 
self, not  by  any  hear-say  or  inference.  The  visitation  and  incoming 
of  the  divine  spirit  had  been  to  them  as  real  and  perceptible  in  their 
hearts  as  was  the  finger  of  the  angel  which  touched  the  sinew  of  Ja- 
cob’s thigh  and  left  it  out  of  joint.  Every  soul  of  them,  preacher 
and  people,  realized  what  a new  life  was,  and  they  were  not  afraid 
nor  ashamed  to  tell  it.  To  them  conversion  meant  something  more 
than  a change  of  purpose,  no  matter  how  deliberate*or  decided  ; or 
an  election  to  life  eternal,  no  matter  how  certain  or  how  ennobling; 
or  than  a possibility  of  attaining  an  assurance  of  acceptance  with 
the  Spirit  of  the  Highest.  It  meant  God  and  Christ  in  the  nature 
and  the  fullness  of  joy  in  consequence.  By  this  life  they  lived, 
and  by  its  power  they  also  spread  their  doctrines  and  their  usages. 

The  maxim  that  “all  life  groVs  onlv  from  life,”  is  as  true  in  relig- 
ion as  in  nature.  Nowhere  is  there  a case  of  spontaneous  genera- 
tion proved.  Life  alone  begets  life  in  vegetable  or  animal.  The 
Divine  Spirit  begets  the  spiritual  life  in  the  soul  of  man,  and  this 
attracts  and  continues  life.  Children  of  God  by  the  new  birth  aie 


88 


THE  MARVEL  OF  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 


thus  brought  together  ancl  a church  is  formed.  By  these  human 
spiritual  lives  others  are  warmed  into  desire  and  'the  spirit  again 
breathes  life.  It  is  as  in  the  beginning,  when  the  Elohim  breathed 
the  breath  of  life  into  Adam  and  he  became  a living  soul.  Then,  as 
now,  in  order  to  create  a master  and  lord  of  the  world  something 
more  was  necessary  than  clay  fashioned  by  divine  skill  and  power. 
A living  God  must  inspire  or  breathe  into  the  curiously  wrought 
mechanism  his  own  spiritual  force  and  fire,  his  own  energy  and  life. 
So  our  church  from  its  first  origin  believed  and  practiced,  never 
hesitating  to  declare  this  fruitful  truth  and  never  allowing  it  to  be 
forgotten  or  ignored  that  man  is  nothing  unless  born  of  God  and 
holding  fast  to  the  life  of  Christ  in  the  soul.  This  practical  belief 
carried  into  daily  duty  gave  the  religious  world  a new  impulse.  It 
fired  a host  of  men  to  brave  every  privation  in  order  to  preach  this 
great  practical,  vital  truth,  and  it  moved  men  and  women  to  pro- 
claim it  till  the  land  was  vocal  with  the  sound  of  full  salvation 
through  Christ. 

The  power  of  life  is  a marvel  everywhere  and  in  every  form  in 
which  it  can  appear.  Seek  to  know  the  difference  between  a bit  of 
marble  and  an  acorn.  Analyze  them  in  a chemist’s  laboratory  and 
you  find  them  not  so  very  diverse  in  their  elements — calcium  and 
oxygen,  nitrogen,  hydrogen  and  oxygen.  Put  them  into  an  acid. 
The  marble  effervesces,  foams  and  finally  dissolves.  The  acorn 
scarcely  shows  a sign  of  change.  But  cover  them  in  spring  time 
with  moist  earth  and  supply  them  with  a proper  degree  of  warmth ; 
the  acorn  soon  sends  up  a plume  of  verdant  life  that  lays  its  hands 
on  materials  wrested  from  air,  water,  earth  and  sunlight,  and  rises 
in  a beauty  as  fresh  as  the  dew,  making  for  itself  a garment  of  glory 
and  a body  of  power  which  adorn  the  landscape  with  living  nobil- 
ity, and  after  a century  of  wrestling  with  winds  and  frosts,  it  has 
built  a tree  which  gives  the  mechanic  the  keel  or  ribs  of  a ship  to 
carry  the  merchant’s  commercial  treasures  around  the  world.  The 
marble  has  crumbled  and  mingled  with  the  common  dust  of  the 
wayside.  In  what  is  the  difference?  In  the  life  alone. 

Take  that  same  acorn  and  an  egg.  Give  both  the  proper  condi- 
tions of  heat  and  position  and  mark.  The  acorn  sends  up  its  plume 
of  verdure  as  before  and  remains  fixed  to  its  place  in  the  soil ; but 
from  the  egg  there  comes  more  than  a thing  of  beauty — a life  which 
puts  on  wings  and  traverses  the  air  of  all  climes,  a delight  and  an 
inspiration.  What  is  the  difference  ? Life  again  ; but  how  diverse  ! 
Now  contrast  that  bird  with  a man.  See  how  knowledge  and  rea- 
son in  him  carry  him,  not  through  the  air,  but  still  above  the  flight 
of  the  bird  as  far  as  the  clouds  sail  above  they  hills.  It  is  life  still, 


THE  MARVEL  OF  SPIRITUAL  LIFE  89 


but  intellectual  life  now  ; a life  which  knows,  and  therefore  aspires. 
This  life  has  another  power  of  higher  adjustments,  so  that  it  can 
adapt  itself  to  changing  conditions  and  make  apparently  adverse 
circumstances  contribute  to  its  real  advantage.  It  can  use  the  lime 
and  earth  or  rocks  to  build  a shelter  for  itself,  or  to  help  separate 
iron  from  its  oxides,  and  can,  by  heat  and  artful  working,  make  this 
into  steel  and  thence  into  tools  which  shall  increase  his  power  a 
thousand-fold.  Dead  matter  is  made  the  servant  of  man,  and  vege- 
table and  animal  life  seem  to  compete  with  each  other  gladly  to  add 
to  his  power  and  intelligence  and  increase  the  ability  of  human 
reason  and  force  to  do  all  things.  Indeed,  man’s  life  seems  to  find 
no  limit  to  its  conquests  save  the  strength  of  the  materials  or  the 
time  it  can  command.  This  life  of  intelligence  and  reason  has  filled 
the  world  with  marvels  of  gardens  and  orchards,  of  fruitful  fields 
and  groaning  harvests ; of  cities  and  architecture,  of  sculpture, 
painting,  music,  oratory  and  poetry.  It  has  erected  civil  govern- 
ments, how  admirable,  and  covered  the  globe  with  agencies  to 
secure  comforts  to  every  man,  woman  and  child  of  the  race.  See 
how  it  provides  blessings  in  homes  and  opportunities  of  improve- 
ment and  refinement  by  joining  all  lands  and  subduing  all  seas  with 
railways  and  steamships  and  telegraphs.  It  leads  toward  an  un- 
imagined paradise  of  progress  and  perfection ; but  it  may  be  accom- 
panied, as  in  Greece  and  Egypt  of  old,  or  in  Judea  and  Turkey  of 
to-day,  by  a hate  of  purity  and  a disregard  of  truth  and  right  ap- 
palling to  humanity. 

There  is,  however,  still  another  life — that  imparted  by  the  Divine 
Spirit — which  is  as  much  higher  than  this  noble  intellectual  life  as 
the  sky  is  above  Chimborazo,  or  as  a man  is  higher  in  rank  than  an 
oak.  And  it  has  been  the  special  mission  of  Methodism  to  proclaim 
the  necessity  of  this  life,  to  exemplify  its  beauty  and  its  power,  and 
to  compel  the  people  to  recognize  its  excellence.  How  shall  this  life 
be  described?  How  can  one  who  has  not  been  born  into  it  and 
therefore  has  not  felt  the  thrill  of  joy  and  power  which  it  brings, 
know  what  it  is  and  what  it  signifies  ? Can  a bird  or  a beast  com- 
prehend the  delight  of  the  poet  as  he  beholds  a sunrise  adorned  with 
the  thousand  glories  of  earth  and  sky,  and  takes  in  the  grandeur  of 
morning  as  it  opens  on  the  sight  through  the  gates  of  the  east?  The 
animal  may  dance  and  sing  and  exult  with  pleasure,  but  what 
can  it  know  of  anything  that  does  more  than  stir  the  physical  frame  ? 
A clod  might  as  well  be  expected  to  feel  the  throbs  of  life  which 
run  through  the  wings  of  the  eagle  as  «he  beats  the  air  above  the 
mountain  in  the  morning  and  seeks  food  for  her  young  over  half  a 
continent,  as  that  an  earthly  mind  should  know  the  fullness  of  com- 


80  THE  MARVEL  OF  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 

: 1 , , •'  • ■ 

fort  and  peace  and  joy,  and  life  and  love  that  oyerpowers  and  re- 
creates the  soul  of  a man  when  the  divine  life  enters  the  human  and 
seals  it  the  child  of  God.  Earthly  distinctions,  imperial  relation- 
ships, scientific  attainments  and  honors,  all  fade  before  such  a 
Fatherhood  owning  as  his  son  the  man  who  has  given  his  heart  to 
truth  and  to  Christ. 

When  Methodism  first  began  its  mission  in  the  land  the  knowl- 
edge of' this  blessed  life  had  by  no  means  been  lost  to  the  world. 
But  ever  since  there  had  been  promulgated  that  grand  epic  of  fatal- 
ism expounded  by  Calvin — that  logical  fiction  of  predestination, 
the  deepest  and  noblest  of  mere  human  speculations,  except  panthe- 
ism, which  is  more  magnificent  and  more  reasonable — and  it  had 
dominated  the  religious  thought  of  the  world,  Christians  had  been 
forgetting  the  real  conscious  presence  of  the  life  of  God  in  the  soul. 
Not  that  they  denied  the  new  birth  or  regeneration.  By  no  means. 
They  had  in  a way  emphasized  it ; but  at  the  same  time  they  had 
assumed  the  impossibility  of  knowing  when  it  was  implanted,  or 
that  it  was  in  the  soul  at  all.  The  old  Puritans  knew  that  they  were 
the  elect  and  were  therefore  possessors  of  all  things.  But  their  de- 
scendants insisted  that  it  was  simph  presumption  to  claim  to  know, 
before  death,  an  assured  heirship.  Life  immortal,  life  divine,  could 
be  known  only  by  dying;  and  this  dogma  and  this  practice  made 
genuine,  joyous  religion  a myth  in  the  world  and  a gloom  in  social 
atfairs  and  human  conduct. 

Methodism  came  with  the  boldest,  most  aggressive  denial  of  such 
a statement  and  affirmed  that  Jesus  died  to  give  life,  and  that  he 
gave  it  not  only  freely,  but  as  a fire  from  heaven ; that  he  not  only 
regenerates  the  soul  into  newness  of  life,  but  gives  the  knowledge 
of  that  life  and  that  regeneration  with  joy  and  power.  It  asserted 
a spiritual  life,  imparted  by  the  Holy  Ghost  and  consciously  known, 
joyousty,  rapturously  felt,  as  unmistakably,  but  more  exultingly  than 
the  thrill  of  health  returning  after  sickness,  and  it  demanded  that* 
every  one  of  its  adherents  should  experimentally  know  that  he  had 
this  life.  It  must  be  by  no  inference,  or  hope  or  persuasion.  It 
must  be  a heaven-assured  certainty  as  firmly  seated  in  the  soul  as 
sensation  is  in  the  physical  nature.  Paul  could  say,  “ I know  that  I 
live,  because  Christ  liveth  in  me,”  and  every  early  Methodist  must 
say  the  same  and  know  it  like  a fire  shut  up  in  the  bones. 

Descartes  once  astonished  the  world,  and  even  philosophy  herself, 
by  his  simple  affirmation,  “ I think  therefore  I am.”  It  was  to  be  at 
once  a demonstration  of  existence,  of  mind  and  finally  of  God.  The 
original  Methodists  did  better  than  that.  They  said  : “I  love,  there- 
fore I live  ;”  and  because  they  lived,  having  been  dead,  they  knew 


THE  MARVEL  OB'  SPIRITUAL  LIFE.  91 


that  Jesus  Christ  lived.  For  how  could  dead  souls  live  unless  they 
had  teen  raised  to  life  by  divine  power?  Life  can  only  grow  from 
life.  We  do  live.  Therefore  there  is  a fountain  of  life.  So  they  lived 
and  sang : 

“ Fountain  of  Life  to  all  below, 

Let  thy  salvation  roll ; 

Water,  replenish  ando’erflow 
Every  believing  soul. 

The  well  of  Life  to  us  thou  art,  • 

Of  joy,  the  swelling  flood, 

Wafted  by  Thee,  with  willing  heart, 

We  swift  return  to  God.” 

This  life  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  the  soul,  or  more  truly,  this  new 
creating  of  the  human  nature  with  Christ  as  an  essential  part  or  ele- 
ment of  it,  was  the  one  prime  idea  or  practical  declaration  of  Meth- 
odism, its  contribution  to  Christian  theology  and  individual  expe- 
rience. 

You  may  talk  of  the  secret  of  Methodism.  It  has  no  secret.  Life 
is  its  power.  Can  you  hide  a live  child  born  into  a happy,  expec- 
tant family  ? There  is  no  secret  in  such  a case.  You  cannot  sup- 
press the  noise  it  will  make  nor  the  joy  it  will  create.  It  is  a new 
life  in  the  household  and  it  proclaims  itself  and  is  a promise  of  still 
fuller  joy,  and  everybody  rejoices  to  hear  its  proclamation  of  its 
new  life.  You  may  speculate  about  the  philosophy  of  Methodism,  as 
Isaac  Taylor  did  and  as  ambitious  critics  sometimes  do.  It  has  no 
philoshphy  in  the  sense  of  scientific  explanation  other  than  the  sim- 
ple “I  have  begotten  you,”  of  the  Lord  of  Life,  and,  “Because  I live 
you  shall  live  also.”  Life,  life,  spiritual  life ! eternal  life ! God’s 
divine  life  in  the  nature  ! This  is  all  the  secret ; this  is  all  the  philos- 
ophy there  is  or  can  be.  It  is  the  life  of  God  and  Christ  and  the 
Holy  Ghost  in  the  man,  making  him  a new  creature  such  as  Paul 
wrote  and  spoke  of,  such  as  the  church  of  all  ages  has  demanded. 

Methodism  was  therefore  no  protest  against  ecclesiastical  intoler- 
ance. It  was  life  in  place  of  ceremony ; regeneration  as  against  for- 
malism ; supernal  power  in  the  heart  as  against  the  death  of  mere 
legal  duty.  And  it  proclaimed  its  message  in  all  ears  and  by  every 
instrumentality,  insisting  that  never  one  of  its  living  sons  or  daugh- 
ters shall  dare  to  keep  silence.  It  would  as  soon  expect  a bob-p- 
link  to  be  mute  when  June  sunshine  and  fragrance  are  filling  the 
meadows  which  give  food  and  shelter  to  his  mate  and  nestlings,  as 
to  allow  a soul  of  man,  woman  or  child,  filled  for  the  first  time  with 
this  divine  life,  to  hold  his  peace.  Is  he  not  raised  from  the  dead  ? 
and  how  can  his  spiritual,  social,  glorious  life  be  silent? 


92  THE  MARVEL  OF  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 


“Jesus  all  the  day  long 

Is  his  joy  and  his  song,  * 

So  that  all  this  salvation  might  see, 

He  hath  loved  me,  each  cried, 

He  hath  suffered  and  died 
And  brought  life  to  a rebel  like  me. 

Oh,  the  rapturous  height 
Of  that  holy  delight 

Which  they  felt  in  the  life-giving  blood; 

Of  their  Savior  possessed, 

They  were  perfectlv  blessed, 

And  were  filled  with  ihe  fullness  of  God.” 

“The  fullness  of  God!”  O,  the  sublime  audacity  of  Christian  faith 
and  love ! “All  the  fullness  of  God!”  To  claim  such  a stretch  of 
privilege  as  this  infinity ! It  is  Paul’s  own  word,  spoken,  too,  by 
divine  command.  Our  church  has  never  been  afraid  of  its  daring 
nor  of  its  mysticism  either.  Our  fathers  insisted  on  its  use  and 
shouted  it  aloud,  because  the  life  of  God — all  the  life  of  God — was 
in  them,  and  was  felt  as  the  trees  feel  the  spring  time,  or  as  the  birds 
feel  the  coming  of  summer.  You  may  just  as  well  fear  that  roses 
will  refuse  to  bourgeon  forth  under  the  skies  of  May,  or  robins  for- 
get to  build  nests  in  April,  or  grapes  hesitate  to  ripen  in  the  sweet 
air  of  August,  as  that  converted  souls  shall  mope  and  pine  and  de- 
spair and  never  tell  their  joys  when  Christ  lives  in  them.  These 
old-time  Methodists  had  a new,  a divine,  a spiritual  life,  and  they 
knew  it,  and  they  did  not  fail  to  let  the  world  know  it ; and  the 
country  very  soon  acknowledged  that  all  men  needed  it  and  hun- 
gered for  it.  So  it  spread  like  a prairie  fire  in  a windy  September, 
and  still  it  wins  its  widening  way.  The  Lord  renew  this  fire  and 
revive  this  life,  and  help  us  to  send  it  forward  till  it  shall  burn  round 
the  world  and  consume  all  sin! 

This  life  is  the  one  element  of  all  our  success.  It  is  more  than  all 
our  achievements  as  a church,  or  than  all  our  hundred  years  of  his- 
tory, exalted  in  grandeur  as  that  is,  for  it  alone  has  made  the  heroic 
deeds  of  our  ministers  and  members  a possibility  and  their  record  a 
page  of  such  brilliant  glory.  It  has  gathered  and  held  together  the 
two  millions  of  our  present  membership  and  helped  them  to  convert 
the  three  millions  more  who  have  entered  other  churches  to  fill  them 
with  this  new  life  of  God  in  the  soul,  and  every  Sabbath  day  it 
draws  to  our  chapels  ten  millions  to  listen  to  the  story  of  this  super- 
natural life-power.  May  not  one  of  our  preachers  be  ashamed  to 
tell  it,  nor  one  of  our  members  be  afraid  to  proclaim  it!  It  alone 
has  made  us  a church  which  girdles  the  glpbe  with  its  altars  of 
prayer  and  which  daily  makes  every  circling  hour  vocal  with  ex- 


✓ 


THE  MARVEL  OF  SPIRITUAL  LIFE.  93 


nltant  songs  of  divine  life.  The  Master  help  us  never  to  lose  one  note 
of  that  song  nor  abate  an  iota  of  its  emphasis  or  joy.  Indeed  this 
exultant  power  in  the  soul  of  man  is  the  hidden  life  of  God  in 
the  nature,  and  its  vocal  expressions  and  heart-felt  devotion  make 
our  earth  as  it  flies  through  the  heaven,  a symbolic  censer  of  prayer- 
ful incense,  daily  swung  in  the  temple  of  the  universe  as  an  offering 
of  praise  to  the  Triune  God  and  Saviour  of  men.  But  the  life,  the 
life  itself  is  more  than  all ; it  is  the  marvel  of  the  ages,  the  promise 
and  security  of  all  to  come.  Without  it  any  church  is  dead  and  any 
generation  hopeless.  We  must  keep  it  throbbing  in  our  souls  or  we 
perish,  and  unless  we  proclaim  it,  our  mission  is  ended.  At  our 
General  Conference,  now  truly  ecumenical,  or  world  embracing, 
we  may  gather  the  men  of  all  the  races,  and  hear  them  speak  “all  the 
tongues  Babel  was  cleft  into,”  as  Milton  has  it,  but  what  would  the 
tongues  of  men  or  of  angels  avail  or  profit,  if  this  life  of  God,  this 
love  which  is  life  were  wanting?  We  may  heap  our  altars  with 
sacrifices  of  money,  men,  talent,  good  works,  high  as  our  church 
steeples,  calling  on  every  preacher  in  every  conference  to  know  if 
he  last  turn  has  been  given  to  the  well-adjusted  society  screws,  de- 
signed to  press  out  oil  to  lubricate  some  part  of  our  complicated 
machinery,  so  cunningly  constructed  to  relieve  individuals  of  per- 
sonal responsiblity  for  the  humane  charities  of  conduct.  What  is  it 
all  worth  ? Much  every  way,  as  St.  Paul  says  in  another  sense.  But  so 
far  as  genuine  life  is  concerned,  absolutely  nothing.  The  whole  church 
machinery  for  reading,  singing,  praying,  preaching,  may  3ret  be  run 
by  some  steam  engine  which  warms  the  room,  and  unless  we  keep 
this  holy  divine  life  in  our  hearts,  such  an  engine  would  be  as  good  as 
preachers  and  choir  and  congregation  too.  Without  spiritual  life 
behind  all  our  exercises  the  steam  engine  will  be  the  better  agency, 
for  it  will  exactly  obey  Gods’  physical  law  and  has  never  been  put 
under  obligations  to  obey  a higher  one  of  duty.  Give  us  the  old  life 
and  power  or  we  are  nothing.  The  grandest  successes  of  eloquence  or 
learning,  the  noblest  offerings  of  talents  or  services,  if  spiritual  power 
be  not  the  moving  impulse,  will  only  reveal  our  poverty  and  wretch- 
edness. We  shall  then  be  merely  beggars  in  rags  and  sickness,  and 
all  our  public  performances  will  but  make  our  death  and  uselessness 
the  more  disgusting.  We  may  build  a score  of  churches  every  seven 
days  and  fill  them  with  crowds  of  kneeling  worshippers  who  shall  be 
entranced  by  the  logic,  the  science  and  eloquence  of  silver-tongued 
preachers,  or  bewitched  by  the  heaven  sweeping  music  of  voice  or 
organ.  We  may  gather  millions  of  children  in  our  Sunday  Schools 
and  teach  them  to  keep  intelluctual  step  with  the  whole  world  in  re- 
citing international  scriptural  lessons,  arranged  by  that  most  wond- 


94  THE  MAb'VEL  OF  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 


erful  organizer,  Dr.  Vincent,  the  peer  of  any  general  or  statesman 
of  the  nations,  and  what  will  it  all  he  worth  if  the  spiritual  life  of 
heart  and  soul  he  not  maintained  in  all  its  pristine  power?  Or  more 
properly  if  it  shall  not  be  increased?  If  the  church  in  multiplying 
her  numbers,  in  giving  birth  to  her  children,  shall  herself  die,  and 
in  the  agony  of  her  disappointment  shall  be  constrained  to  name 
those  children  Ichabods,  what  millions,  though  multipled  by  mill- 
ions, will  console  us  for  the  loss  of  this  ark  of  our  covenant,  this  life 
of  the  Mighty  God  In  the  soul.  Thanks  to  the  Father  of  all  life  we 
have  not  yet  lost  this  good  power  of  Christian  life ! 

Let  us  now  proceed  to  consider  that  this  life  in  the  souls  of  our 
members  has  had  a most  potent  influence  on  our  doctrines  and  also 
on  our  usages,  or  institutions,  on  our  whole  economy ; indeed  it  has 
really  shaped  them  all,  the  creeds  we  hold,  our  modes  of  worship, 
our  system  of  organization  into  classes,  churches,  circuits,  districts, 
in  fact  our  whole  history.  It  will  always  be  the  case  that  life 
will  regulate  all,  will  fashion  a body  to  suit  its  wants  and  will  con- 
trol the  functions  of  that  body.  Even  the  latest  statement  of  the 
evolution  doctrine  declares  that  “life  precedes  organization”  and  that 
“consciousness  must  go  before  a plan  or  purpose  of  improvement.” 
But  let  it  first  be  said  that  none  of  our  doctrines  are  what  may  be 
properly  called  new  or  peculiar.  They  were  preached  by  Peter, 
defended  by  Paul  and  James,  and  recommended  and  illustrated  by 
John,  the  elder  Gaius  and  the  elect  lady.  Chrysostom  and  Augus- 
tine and  Luther  and  Calvin  substantially  expounded  them.  Only 
our  emphatic  insistenc  on  the  fact  of  the  spiritual  life,  already  spoken 
of,  made  them  appear  singular.  They  are  the  same  old  gospel  of 
salvation  and  life  through  Cnrist.  Modern  science  affirms  that  force 
may  show  itself  in  a thousand  ways  and  still  be  the  same  power. 
And  religious  life  may  reveal  itself  in  many  forms  and  be  the  same 
life  of  God  in  the  soul  though  called  by  different  names  and  having 
different  modifications. 

1.  Our  doctrine  of  sin  has  been  very  pronounced,  and  while  we 
always  insisted  on  the  fact  of  a hereditary  depravity  in  itself  so 
great  as  to  be  hopeless  for  the  individual  man,  we  have  strenuously 
insisted  that  only  a conscious  disobedience  could  cut  the  soul  off  from 
the  free  mercy  of  Jehovah.  Man  is  rendered  incapable  by  reason  of 
his  inherited  depravity  of  saving  himself  or  of  doing  meritorious 
works ; but  still,  till  sin  separate  him  from  God  by  a conscious  and 
self-determined  act  of  disobedience,  he  remains  within  the  reach  of 
a bought  salvation.  The  essence  of  sin  therefore  is  a willful  separ- 
tion  of  the  soul  from  the  King  of  mankind  and  the  Ruler  of  the 
thoughts.  This  definiton  makes  the  apostacy  o4“  a believer  possible 


THE  MARVEL  OF  SPIRITUAL  LIFE.  -95 


and  gives  room  for  our  doctrine  of  back  slidings  and  restorations, 
which  has  been  so  often  carricatured  and  often  misunderstood.  Sin 
is  the  most  fatal  of  human  activities,  as  it  sets  up  a frail  and  fallible 
judgment  and  power  against  an  Omnipotent  and  All-Wise  Intelli- 
gence, and  seeks  to  rule  not  simply  itself  but  all  other  things  for  its 
advantage.  Our  fathers  held  that  every  act  of  the  mind  or  of  the 
heart  which  sought  an  end  out  of  God  or  contrary  to  his  law  was  a 
sin,  and  that  every  such  act  severed  the  vital  connections  between 
God  and  the  soul.  Hence  this  life  could  be  renewed  only  by  the  new 
contact  of  the  soul  and  God.  Sin  to  them  was  therefore  the  most 
terrible  fate  a man  could  fall  into,  not  simply  so  much  because  of  the 
punishment  to  be  inflicted,  as  because  of  the  death  of  a soul  which  it 
implied.  As  the  branch  cut  off  from  the  tree  is  dead,  so  the  man  cut 
off  by  his  sin  from  Christ  was  dead,  and  death  meant  to  them  all  that 
is  hopeless,  decaying,  putrifying. 

2.  Another  doctrine  dear  to  us  all  and  always  stated  by  our  min- 
isters with  joy  and  power  is  that  of  “free  grace.”  So  infinite  is  the 
sum  of  benefits  derived  from  Christ  and  God  that  we  may  practically 
declare  that  all  comes  from  Him ; and  so  little  can  we  do,  so  little 
have  we  and  all  men  done  in  the  line  of  helpful  morality,  that  we 
may  call  it  all  nothing.  Hence  we  say  that  we  can  do  nothing  to 
assist  in  bringing  the  new  life  of  Jesus  to  the  soul,  or  in  keeping  it 
alive  in  the  heart.  To  simply  open  the  mind  and  cherish  a living 
desire  for  God,  to  long  for  his  presence  and  turn  from  all  temptation 
to  set  up  our  own  will ; to  have  a faith  in  God’s  goodness  and  power 
and  to  put  the  whole  cause  into  the  hands  of  Jesus,  is  all  we  can  do# 
And  then  when  the  Saviour  is  offered,  the  soul  is  to  receive  him  and 
remember  that  the  believer  is  “born  not  of  blood,  nor  of  the  flesh, 
nor  of  the  will  of  man,  but  of  God.”  This  grace,  free  as  the  air,  is 
as  universal  as  gravitation,  and  will  lift  every  heart  to  holiness  and 
righteousness,  to  Christ  and  his  life,  unless  consciously  rejected. 
We  call  it  therefore  free  grace  and  proclaim  it  as  the  purchased 
heritage  of  the  race,  and  we  say  it  can  only  be  forfeited  by  actual  sin 
separating  the  soul  from  its  Savior. 

3.  A third  point  of  doctrine  so  fully  emphasized  by  our  pioneers 
is  that  of  an  atonement  or  sacrifice  b.y  suffering.  It  is  an  observed 
fact  that  even  our  common  blessings,  our  daily  advantages  come  to 
us  from  the  toils  and  privations  of  others.  They  make  sacrifices 
consciously  and  with  design  to  provide  opportunities  for  improve- 
ment and  gain  to  others.  Especially  is  this  the  case  where  human 
affection  prevails.  Here  deliberate  choice  selects  means  and  pro- 
vides by  its  own  pain  for  the  joy  of  the  beloved  one.  Very  largely 
too  is  this  the  case  even  when  there  is  no  real  choice  of  sacrifice  or 


96 


THE  MARVEL  OF  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 


suffering.  Human  life  begins  with  the  agony  of  another  almost 
equivalent  death.  And  the  nurture  and  care  and  deprivation  re- 
quired of  parents  to  support  and  educate  a child  to  maturity,  how 
great.  Then  note  the  revealed  fact,  coincident  with  this,  that  the  life 
of  toil  and  suffering,  and  the  death  of  shame  and  despair  of  our  Lord 
and  Savior,  have  in  some  way  purchased  pardon  and  sanctification. 
Connect  this  with  our  doctrine  of  a divine  life  in  the  soul,  or  rather, 
base  that  doctrine  on  this  sacrifice  of  Christ  as  its  foundation,  and 
we  have  the  substance  and  glory  of  our  Methodist  theology,  the  sacri- 
fical  atonement  by  Jesus,  the  vicarious  mediator  and  author  of  all 
salvation.  Our  preaching  has  always  been  vitalized  by  this.  The 
Cross  has  stood  in  the  foreground  of  every  picture  of  hope  we  have 
drawn  to  set  before  the  eyes  of  the  perishing.  It  has  hung  as  a sign 
in  every  heaven  we  have  pointed  men  to,  as  a symbol  of  faith  and 
conquest.  Nothing  but  the  Cross  has  been  held  up  to  the  dying  sin- 
ner’s mind  on  which  he  could  fasten  and  from  which  he  could  find  a 
hope.  We  have  never  made  it  an  idol  as  the  Roman  Church  seems 
many  times  to  do.  We  have  never  allowed  ourselves  to  call  the 
sufferings  of  the  Savior  penal,  and  hardly  substitutional  in  any  pop- 
ular sense,  but  that  they  were  vicarious,  and  that  they  do  bring  help 
and  redemption  in  some  marvelous *and  mighty  manner,  we  have 
always  believed  and  gloried  in.  These  pains  and  sacrifices  of  a sin- 
less Infinite  One,  who  became  our  brother  in  the  flesh,  who  still  lives 
to  impart  to  us,  in  a mysterious  way,  his  own  divine  life  and  to  be- 
get us  anew,  are  our  standard  themes  in  all  our  pulpits,  and  their 
power  does  bring  us  to  God  and  enable  us  to  endure  and  grow  into 
all  that  “fullness  of  God”  which  has  been  our  inspiration. 

4.  Our  doctrine  presses  another  point  already  mentioned.  It  is 
one  of  our  vital  dogmas  and  is  to  be  defended  at  the  peril  of  all  else. 
Our  ideas  of  conversion  or  regeneration,  or  the  life  of  God  im- 
planted by  the  Holy  Ghost  in  the  soul,  have  always  been  our  clear- 
est, most  emphatic,  most  frequent  utterances.  We  have  kept  these 
statements  ringing  on  the  air  in  all  our  preaching  and  discussions, 
at  our  camp-meetings,  at  our  conferences,  in  our  Sabbath  services, 
and  in  our  weekly  prayer  and  class  meetings  and  love  feasts.  Clearly 
known  conversion  has  been  coupled  with  the  glorious  doctrine  and 
the  living  practice  of  a perfect’character  of  love  and  faith  such  as 
makes  the  human  soul  a “perfect  man  in  Christ  Jesus.  We  have  in- 
sisted that  this  shall  be  known  as  to  the  time  of  its  beginning  and 
shall  be  as  unmistakably  felt  as  is  the  action  of  the  mind  itself.  A 
man  is  to  know  that  he  does  love  God  just  as  certainly  as  he  knows 
that  he  loves  wife  or  children  ; and,  what  is  sometimes  regarded  as  a 
trifle  mystical  but  which  must  still  be  maintained  as  a necessity,  he 


THE  MARVEL  OF  SPIRITUAL  LIFE.  97 


must  also  know  that  God  loves  and  approves  him  just  as  surely  as 
he  knows  that  wife  or  child  loves  him.  The  love  for  God  in  his  soul 
must  be  felt,  and  the  answering  love  in  God  for  him  must  be  com- 
municated to  kis  soul ; in  other  words,  a conscious  love  in  his  heart 
must  answer  to  the  divine  witnessing  spirit  which  speaks  intelli- 
gent^ to  him.  Wesley  struck  the  key-note,  and  the  whole  line  of 
the  fathers  sang  with  enthusiasm  : 

“The  Father  bears  him  pray, 

His  dear  Anointed  One, 

He  cannot  turn  away 
The  presence  of  his  Son. 

The  Spirit  answers  to  the  blood 
And  tells  me  I am  born  of  God. 

My  God  is  reconciled, 

His  pardoning  voice  I hear; 

He  owns  me  for  his  child, 

I can  no  longer  fear. 

With  confidence  I now  draw  nigh, 

And  Father,  Abba,  Father,  cry.” 

This  gives  the  fullness  of  peace  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  it 
is  the  perfectness  of  love,  the  completeness  of  faith,  the  unhesitation 
of  a perfect  obedience  that  walks  boldly  to  the  precipice,  if  need  be, 
and,  while  poising  its  uplifted  foot  over  the  mighty  void,  finds  a 
great  rock  rising  before  it  and  making  a highway  for  its  triumph- 
ant march  toward  the  kingdom  of  life.  This  is  our  doctrine  of  holi- 
ness. Let  us  bless  Jehovah  for  it  and  maintain  it  with  an  earnest 
faith  and  a prayerful  wisdom  and  prudence ! The  preaching  of  it 
has  been- one  of  our  specialties.  For  our  hundred  years  of  ecclesi- 
astical life  the  land  has  rung  with  it.  Our  pulpits  defend  it,  our 
people  claim  to  know  it,  and  all  our  economy  is  redolent  with  its 
heavenly  fragrance.  Our  doctrines  of  a new  birth,  sudden  and 
known,  thrilling  the  nature,  the  certainty  that  this  is  no  act  of  man’s, 
but  the  gift  of  God’s  free  grace,  and  the  belief  that  this  new  life  is 
to  be  made  perfect,  to  grow  till  the  man  becomes  perfect  in  Christ, 
always  in  Christ,  however, — all  this  our  church  has  ‘‘steadfastly  be- 
lieved” and  must  believe  to  the  end  ; and  the  proclamation  of  it,  and 
more  especially  the  living  it,  has  it  not  changed  the  whole  expe- 
rience and  practical  Christianity  of  all  the  churches?  It  has  taught 
them  the  power  of  a divine  life.  They  have  called  it  by  other  names, 
but  they  have  cheerfully  accepted  the  experience  and  termed  it  the 
“rest  of  faith,”  “ the  higher  life,”  “assurance,”  and  they  hold  it  as 
an  entire  consecration,  a sure  confidence.  Methodism,  whatever  else 
it  has  done  or  has  not  done,  has  made  this  doctrine  of  “scriptural 
holiness”  the  one  universally  believed  and  popular  idea  of  Chris- 


98  THE  MARVEL  OF  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 


tianity.  The  believer  is  to  trust  to  Christ,  who  is  held  to  be  a per- 
sonal presence  and  a living,  loving  power,  so  fully  that  he  is  to  rest 
in  him  without  sin,  to  be  blameless,  united  to  him,  and  to  be  filled 
with  love,  conscious  of  Christ’s  sweet  nature  within  him,  full  of  his- 
infinite  tenderness  and  of  the  abiding  blessedness  of  communion 
with  him. 

Such  a doctrine  of  marvelous  privileges,  of  such  exalted  dignity 
and  spiritual  exultation,  naturally  grew  out  of  the  life  of  the  Divine 
Nature  in  the  soul.  When  a man  is  born  of  God,  has  thus  become  a 
partaker  of  him,  why  may  he  not  rise  to  any  height  of  purity, 
strength  and  perfection  of  love  and  gr^ce  ? Having  Jesus,  the 
anointed  Savior,  dwelling  within  him,  why  should  he  not  “go  on  to’ 
perfection  ?”  How  can  he  do  anything  else  than  “expect  to  be  made 
perfect  in  love  in  this  life?'’  When  God  is  lovb  and  lives  in  him, 
how  can  a consistent  man  count  himself  called  to  anything  else  than 
to  holiness  and  all  the  fullness  of  that  noble  blessing? 

These  four  points  or  doctrines  of  sin  of  regeneration  of  an  atone- 
ment and  of  free  grace  or  holiness,  especially  that  of  the  new  life,  gave 
to  our  preachers  a fresh  positiveness,  a new  and  sparkling  interest, 
which  actually  astonished  the  people  and  attracted  multitudes  to 
hear  a free  gospel  and  listen  to  the  audacious  claims  of  men  lately 
confessed  to  be  sinners  and  now  pretending  to  be  perfect.  It  is  sim- 
ple enough  to  say  that  these  early  itinerants  preached  with  power. 
They  believed  and  therefore  they  spoke ; when  other  men  and 
preachers  whispered  in  doubt,  in  fear  and  despair  even, 

“How  can  a sinner  know 
His  sins  on  earth  forgiven? 

How  can  a gracious  Savior  show* 

My  name  inscribed  in  heaven ?” 

these  people — men,  women,  children — lifted  each  his  voice  like  a 
trumpet,  and  all  together  sang  as  when  the  seven  thunders  uttered 
their  voices : 

“What  we  have  felt  and  seen, 

With  confidence  we  tell: 

And  publish  to  the  sons  of  men 
The  signs  infallible. 

His  love  supassing  far 
The  love  of  all  beneath, 

We  find  within  our  hearts  and  dare, 

The  pointless  darts  of  death. 

Stronger  than  earth  or  hell, 

The  sacred  power  we  prove; 

And  conquerors  of  the  world,  we  dwell 
In  heaven,  who  dwell  in  love.” 


THE  MARVEL  OF  SPIRITUAL  LIFE.  99 


This  leads  to  the  statement  that  the  Methodist  movement  produced 
an  outburst  of  religious  song  such  as  was  never  heard  from  the  time 
“when  the  morning  stars  sang  together  and  all  the  sons  of  God 
shouted  for  joy,”  down  to  the  days  of  our  grand  revival.  Every- 
body sang,  and  sang  hymns  of  which  it  seems  to  be  no  blasphemy 
nor  even  exaggeration,  to  say  they  are  a-s  truly  inspired  as  is  the 
xiii  of  Paul  to  the  Corinthians.  Our  people  sang  them  and  read 
them  and  prayed  in  their  words.  They  were  for  a long  time  our 
litany.  The  people  had  no  scruple  about  the  propriety  of  singing 
and  no  difficulty  in  measuring  the  tune  or  the  time,  though  I have 
had  modern  choristers  tell  me  the  syllables  do  not  accentuate  well: 

“Faith,  mighty  faith,  the  promise  sees, 

And  looks  to  that  alone; 

Laughs  at  impossibilities, 

And  cries  it  shall  be  done!” 

It  was  their  experience,  and  that  old,  old  story  was  new  to  them, 
and  true  every  morning  and  fresh  e\&ery  evening.  This  preaching, 
this  singing,  this  experience-telling,  led  to  a sociability  which  found 
expression  in  class-meetings  and  love  feasts,  and  in  a hospitality  aud 
religious  visiting  more  valuable  to  the  frontier  than  is  often  ac- 
knowledged. This  promoted  refinement  and  enlarged  their  ideas 
of  the  country  and  of  the  responsibility  of  citizens,  and  made  them 
ready  and  able  to  be  leaders.  How  many  can  remember  the  lordly 
hospitalities  of  the  Methodists  in  St.  Clair,  Wabash,  Lawrence,  Madi- 
son and  Crawford  counties  in  this  state  ? And  the  same  were  abund- 
ant in  Indiana,  Ohio  and  the  East,  and  quite  as  princely  were  the 
welcomes  and  generous  entertainments  on  the  plantations  of  the 
South.  This  would  remind  us  of  Abraham,  the  friend  of  God,  and 
his  gentlemanly  feast  of  the  angels  at  Mamre  ; and  it  did  a work  for 
religion,  for  society,  for  the  nation,  which  helped  to  make  the  East 
and  the  West  one  in  spirit  and  in  experience,  and  has  been  retained 
till  the  present  day,  as  the  sessions  of  our  annual  Conferences  con- 
tinually prove.  The  preachers  of  those  days  were  commonly  gen- 
tlemen born  and  bred,  and  they  carried  refinement,  good  manners, 
quick  intelligence,  neatness  of  personal  habits  and  a noble  manli- 
ness, to  say  nothing  of  the  sweetness  aud  light  of  pietjq  wherever 
they  went.  The  backwoodsman  and  his  family  in  their  log  cabin 
felt,  when  such  men  came  among  them,  that  they  had  a connection 
with  the  human  race,  the  very  noblest  of  it,  and  with  the  Lord  of 
life  and  wisdom,  with  a whole  Savior  still  alive  too,  and  they 
struggled  in  poverty  and  loneliness  to  make  themselves  worthy  of 
their  high  calling.  To  what  prayer  meetings  did  this  lead,  how  did 
they  make  the  Methodists  of  a region,  for  fifty  miles  around,  one  in 


I 


100  THE  MARVEL  OF  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 


soul,  in  purpose,  in  doctrine,  in  faith,  in  zeal,  in  lo've  and  in  power! 
They  were  a live  people  and  they  loved  one  another.  Religion  was 
a real  life  in  them,  as  certainly  known  to  every  one  of  them  as  is 
the  throb  of  the  pulse  at  the  wrist.  It  was  a strange  warmth  about 
the  heart,  as  Wesley  himself  said.  They  scorned  the  word  “ hope,77 
then  so  common  among  Christians  of  other  churches,  whose  cant 
about  “a  hope  indulged77  was  made  the  occasion  of  much  boisterous, 
and  sometimes  improper  ridicule.  They  did  however  speak  often 
and  exultinglv  of  “ hope.77  But  it  was  not  a hope  of  conversion  nor 
of  acceptance  with  God.  That  they  knew.  They  had  experienced 
the  sweetness  of  that.  They  felt  and  knew  the  power  of  it.  To 
“hope  77  for  it  was  to  them  an  absurdity.  But  the  hope  of  a here- 
after, the  hope  of  seeing  the  Savior,  of  meeting  the  saints  of  all 
ages,  and  more  particularly  the  hope  of  perfect  love  and  the  con- 
tinuous joys  of  such  an  exalted  state — such  a hope  they  had,  and  it 
filled  their  songs  with  their  highest  raptures.  How  the  woods 
echoed  with  the  power  of  Christ  while  they  sang : 

“ O glorious  hope  of  perfect  love! 

It  lifts  me  up  to  things  above, 

It  bears  on  eagles’  win^s; 

It  gives  my  ravished  soul  a taste, 

And  makes  me  for  some  moments  feast 
With  piophets,  priests  and  kings.” 

Or  that  other  of  Charles  Wesley’s  inspired  hymns: 

“ O love  divine,  how  sweet  thou  art! 

When  shall  I find  my  willing  heart 
All  tatsen  up  by  thee? 

I thirst,  I faint,  I die,  10  prove 
The  greatness  of  redeeming  love, 

The  love  of  Christ  to  me. 

“ God  only  knows  the  love  of  dod; 

O that  it  now  were  shed  abroad 
In  this  poor,  stony  heart ! 

For  love  I sigh,  for  love  I pine, 

This  only  portion,  Lord,  be  mine, 

Be  mine  the  better  part.” 

Thus  they  mingled  prayer  and  praise,  preaching,  exhortation, 
doctrine  and  experience  in  those  songs  which  they  sang  till  their 
fiesli  and  bones,  their  lips  and  tongues,  and  teeth  too,  knew  them 
and  could  sing  them  without  note  or  book.  And  they  did  sing  them 
and  shout  them,  and  pray  them  at  home  and  abroad,  on  Sabbath  and 
work-day,  in  the  house  and  in  the  field,  till  the  very  wilderness  and 
solitary  place  were  glad  for  them ; till  the  eagles  of  the  air  knew 
them  and  the  wolves  of  th 3 forests  fled  scared  by  their  power.  This 
“ hope  of  perfect  love  !77  It  filled  them  and  entranced  the  world. 
May  it  never  die  in  our  hearts!  And  when  they  held  up  the  other 
“ hope  77  which  has  inspired  the  saints  and  martyrs  of  all  ages — flow 


THE  MARVEL  OF  SPIRITUAL  LIFE.  101 


they  sang  of  it,  in  the  grandest  of  strains,  which  must  have  de- 
lighted the  angels  themselves,  as  they  leaned  over  the  jasper  walls 
and  listened  to, 

“ Come  on  my  partners  in  distress,  \ 

My  comrades  through  the  wilderness; 

Who  still-your  bodies  feel ; 

Awhile  forget  your  griefs  and  fears. 

And  look  beyond  this  vale  of  tears, 

To  that  celestial  hill. 

That  great  mysterious  Deity 
We  soon  with  open  face  shall  see; 

The  beatific  sight 

Shall  fill  the  heavenly  courts  with  praise, 

And  wide  diffuse  the  golden  blaze 
Of  everlasting  light.” 

All  this  light  and  power,  this  confidence,  assurance,  exultation  and 
song,  how  it  filled  the  land  with  religious  activity  and  helped  most 
marvelously  to  carry  our  land  through  two  of  its  great  perils.  The 
church  was  first  organized  in  December,  1784,  at  the  time  when 
French  infidelity  was  having  its  greatest  popularity  in  this  country, 
and  the  work  done  to  counteract  its  poison  was  immense.  Then  un- 
belief was  speculative,  philosophical,  negative,  critical,  sarcastic, 
sneering,  doubting.  It  had  affected  almost  all  of  the  foremost  men 
of  our  revolutionary  times,  excepting  the  Adamses,  the  Jays  and  the 
Livingstons.  It  emptied  the  churches  of  men  and  filled  the  taverns 
and  spread  a pall  of  darkness  over  the  land  from  the  battle  of  Sara- 
toga down  to  the  time  of  the  beginning  of  our  great  American  re- 
vival in  1816.  There  had  been  revivals  under  Whitefield,  Jonathan 
Edwards  and  the  Tenants  before  the  declaration  of  Independence, 
but  their  fires  paled  during  the  fierce  ordeals  of  the  war.  During 
these  years  the  little  sparks  of  Wesleyan  life  were  starting  flames 
which  after  about  1819  set  the  continent  in  a blaze.  Infidelity  dif- 
fused death,  but  Methodism  propagated  spiritual  life  and  did  much 
to  save  virtue  and  truth.  It  took  the  ground  that  no  mere  morality 
could  be  sound  or  profitable  unless  based  on  religious  life ; and 
while  it  first  proclaimed  life,  it  then  insisted  on  virtue.  From  the 
time  of  Wesley’s  first  class-meeting  rules  it  had  borne  a testimony 
against  slavery,  dram-drinking  and  tobacco-using  in  all  their  forms. 
It  was  truly  the  pioneer  of  the  grand  reformation  of  temperance, 
and  on  that  question  and  the  tobacco  nuisance  it  is  still  far  in  the 
van  of  the  whole  reformatory  forces  of  the  age. 

Another  line  in  which  Methodism  has  been  mighty  was  to  follow 
the  trail  of  the  pioneer  and  the  emigrant  and  preserve  him  and  his 
family  from  barbarism  and  heathenism.  This  topic  would  be  a 
grand  one  for  the  application  of  a sermon  like  this.  Methodism  has 


102  TIIE  MARVEL  OF  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 


carried  the  life  of  Christ  to  that  mighty  tide  of  population  which 
has  overflowed  this  continent.  These  early  itinerants  of  ours,  these 
gentlemen  saints,  went  with  one  work  in  their  hearts  and  only  oue 
on  their  hands;  but  they  were  statesmen  as  well,  and  teachers,  too, 
and  builders  of  intelligence  and  character.  So  they  took  religious 
books  and  sold  them  everywhere,  and  there  has  grown  from  their 
desire  and  determination  to  circulate  books  filled  with  God’s  truth 
and  descriptive  of  the  Christian  life,  the  largest  book-making  estab- 
lishment on  the  globe — an  establishment  which  makes  the  whole 
Methodist  church  the  grandest  agency  for  circulating  a pure  litera- 
ture and  for  counteracting  the  pernicious  influence  of  bad  books  the 
imagination  of  man  can  conceive.  Those  old  men,  far-seeing — nay, 
I recall  the  word,  and  yet  only  to  atfirm  it  in  a nobler  sense — those 
menl^a  little  blind  to  the  difficulties  in  their  way,  but  inspired  by 
God  to  see  beyond  the  mountain  tops,  built  a publishing  house  that 
scatters  knowledge  almost  as  widely  as  the  sun  scatters  his  rays; 
„ and  to  it  every  preacher  and  Sunday-school  superintendent  is  a 
bountiful  hand  to  carry  the  sweetest,  purest,  noblest  literature  to  the 
world.  It  is  one  of  our  marvels.  No  human  mind  can  tell  how 
much  we  have  done  for  the  world  in  this  line. 

In  every  movement  to  reform  the  morals,  or  to  improve  the  man- 
ners, or  promote  the  intelligence  or  power  of  men,  our  church  has 
been  the  boldest  aggressor  on  sin,  and  its  members  are  everywhere 
among  the  forlorn  hope  of  every  benevolence,  or  advance  campaign 
toward  the  upbuilding  of  right  on  earth.  One  thing  which  has  con- 
tributed materially  to  this  end  has  undoubtedly  been  our  doctrine  or 
belief  concerning  a call  to  the  ministry.  According  to  this,  God 
calls  and  commissions  men  to-day  as  truly  as  the  Master  called  and 
endowed  the  fishermen  and  carpenters  of  Galilee,  to  preach  his  gos- 
pel and  to  organize  his  church.  Our  early  preachers  believed  that 
they  were  thrust  out  to  proclaim  truth  and  convert  sinners  ; and  they 
did  cry  aloud  and  spare  not.  They  went  asking  no  salary  and 
making  no  complaint  if  they  received  not  a penny.  They  shared  the 
frugal  fare  of  the  pioneer,  and,  if  for  any  cause,  there  was  not  en- 
ough of  cash  collected  to  enable  them  to  live  decently  without  in- 
curring debt,  they  located  at  once,  esteeming  the  lack  of  support  an 
effectual  shutting  of  the  door  against  them.  But  while  God  gave 
them  the  hearts  of  the  people  and  kept  them  in  the  field,  they  feared 
no  man,  and  called  everyone,  everywhere  to  repentance  and  life. 
The  doctrine  of  a divine  call  to  the  ministry  is  one  we  need  to  revive 
and  emphasize.  On  it  God’s  church  is  founded.  A man’s  church 
may  be  founded  on  a self-called,  or  a chnrch-callpd  ministry.  Men 
can  attract  to  men,  they  can  organize  themselves.  But  all  such  com- 


THE  MARVEL  OF  SPIRITUAL  LTFE  103 


binations,  or  organizations,  or  corporations,  with  whatever  sanction 
of  nature, 'or  law,  or  convenience  they  may  have,  are,  after  all, 
human  institutions  and  can  have  no  more  than  a human  authority. 
But  a man  or  woman  created  anew  in  Christ  Jesus  and  made  to  be  a 
living  soul,  and  then  called  of  God  and  commissioned  by  Him  and 
directed  by  his  spirit,  is  not  a human  attraction  and  wields  not  a 
human  power.  He  does  not  form  human  institutions  : He  builds  the 
kingdom  of  God  and  Christ,  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  obedience,  love, 
joy  and  peace  in  the  earth.  He  brings  a divine,  a supernatural  agency 
into  the  affairs  of  a sinful  world  and  thereby  introduces  order  and 
every  good  thing. 

No  man  can  enter  our  pulpits  for  gain  without  incurring  the  guilt 
of  Simon  Magus,  nor  can  he  innocently  accept  its  duties  with  even  a 
conscientious  desire  to  do  goo*1  and  a reverent  calculation  that  his 
talents  are  adapted  to  its  work.  No  mere  philanthropic  ardor  must 
move  him  to  it.  He  must  inwardly  hear  the  divine  voice  calling 
him ; he  must  see  around  him  the  imperious  providences  of  God, 
commanding  him  to  that  labor ; he  must  find  the -seal  of  the  Highest 
on  his  work,  approving  and  attesting  his  own  desire.  There  must  be 
a woe  behind  him,  like  the  smoke  of  Sodom,  a yearning  within  him, 
a signal  above  him  like  the  cross  in  the  sky,  a promise  before  him 
like  the  mountain  of  Zoar,  all  urging  him  to  preach  the  gospel 
of  everlasting  life  if  he  would  save  his  soul  hereafter  or  have  the 
peace  of  God  in  this  life.  This  is  our  theory  and  it  has  been  our 
practice  from  our  beginning.  God  be  praised  ! And  if  ever  a man 
has  entered  our  ministry  without  this  high  call  he  has  been  sadly 
mistaken,  or  has  committed  perjury.  And  the  same  must  be  said  of 
the  authorities  of  the  church  ; if  they  admit  him  they  have  erred  or 
sinned  most  grievously. 

While  we  hold  the  call  to  the  ministry  high  enough,  it  is  not  cer- 
tain but  that  our  practice  falls  below  the  standard  of  the  fathers.  Do 
not  many  of  our  preachers  starve  in  the  ministry  and  starve  their 
families  because  they  are  not  men  of  authority  and  power  ? Do  they 
feel  that  God  himself  has  sent  them  to  find  the  lost  sheep  ? They 
feed  the  sheep  and  the  lambs,  too,  if  they  come  to  the  fold  of  their 
own  accord ; but  do  they  go  into  the  wilderness  and  find  those  who 
go  astray?  They  are  capital  servants  at  the  Lord’s  marriage  feast 
to  wait  on  those  who  have  heard  and  obeyed  the  first  invitation. 
But  how  energetic  are  they  to  go  out  into  the  highways  and  hedges, 
in  the  thunder  aud  the  hail,  and  compel  them  to  come  in?  The 
divine  commission,  the  woe  is  me,  ought  to  push  us  out  as  it  did  the 
fathers,  to  go  after  men,  so  that  every  man  on  the  circuit,  member  of 
our  church,  or  another,  or  of  no  church,  should  in  some  way  and  at 


104  THE  MARVEL  OF  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 


some  time  hear  the  divine  call  and  feel  the  touch  of  the  divine  tire, 
not  with  the  purpose  altogether  to  make  him  a Methodist,  but  to 
make  him  live,  to  convert  him  to  life,  the  life  of  love  in  God.  The 
man  thus  called  gathers  Christ’s  sheep  into  Christ’s  fold,  and  not 
Methodist,  nor  Presbyterian,  nor  Baptist  sheep  into  a sectarian  pen. 
He  works  in  the  Lord’s  vineyard,  and  the  clusters  he  finally  gathers 
are  for  the  wine  to  be  drunk  new  with  the  Master  in  his  own  king- 
dom. Such  a man,  called  by  such  a high  calling,  has  authority,  not 
to  lord  it  over  God’s  heritage,  but  to  be  a servant  of  the  Most  High 
and  a worker  together  with  him  in  building  the  temple  in  which  all 
men  are  to  worship.  He  labors  not  for  a reward,  but  because  he 
loves  his  Savior  and  his  brethren. 

Some  of  our  usages  have  been  peculiar,  and  have,  as  has  been  said, 
grown  out  of  our  doctrines.  Perhaps  the  strangest  of  all  has  been 
our  itinerant  ministry.  It  cannot  be  eulogized  or  defended  here. 
But  that  a class  of  men  should  surrender  the  idea  of  a permanent 
home  and  devote  themselves  to  the  wandering  life,  almost  of  a gypsy, 
and  give  up  to  an’other  man  the  right  to  choose  for  them  the  annual 
place  for  their  labor,  and  also  should  surrender  to  others  the  right 
to  fix  for  them  their  compensation  for  that  work  and  to  exact  ser- 
vices in  unlimited  measure,  is  a wonder.  This  has  been  going  on  for 
a hundred  years  and  has  been  endured,  even  welcomed;  and  more 
than  five  hundred  men  every  year  enter  our  conferences  on  proba- 
tion and  joyfully  accept  it  as  a duty.  Women,  as  wives,  accompany 
them,  share  the  sufferings  and  contribute  in  a large  degree  to  the 
success  of  the  work.  Each  year  now  sees  an  army — counting  in,  as 
we  rightly  do,  the  followers,  ministers  and  families — of  more  than 
thirty  thousand  souls  liable  to  break  up  all  the  sacred  associations  of 
home  and  friendship,  of  kindred  and  memory,  and  go  among  stran- 
gers simply  to  preach  Jesus  and  to  exemplify  the  power  of  a living 
Savior.  Talk  of  the  cessation  of  miracles.  Here  is  one  before  you  ! 
And  it  has  been  one  arm  of  our  power.  Do  not  weaken  it ; strengthen 
it  if  possible  ; but  cut  it  off  and  half  our  power  goes  too.  The  Meth- 
odist church,  by  its  ministry,  has  made  great  sacrifices  and  performed 
heroic  labors.  How  often  have  the  pioneers  treaded  the  wilderness, 
following  the  trail  of  the  explorer  by  the  blazed  trees!.  They  have 
encountered  dangers  of  floods  and  wild  beasts.  Frosts  and  heats 
beat  upon  them  ; fevers  and  malarias  lay  in  wait  for  them.  The  sun 
by  day  aiid  the  stars  by  night  saw  them  shelterless  and  lonesome, 
hungry  and  destitute  of  all  but  Christ  and  their  own  indomitable 
courage.  For  years  Uiey  wandered  seeking  the  souls  of  men,  to 
preach  a gospel  of  free  salvation,  of  mighty  faith,  and  of  the  glori- 
ous redemption  by  Jesus.  What  are  the  results?  A nation  saved 


THE  MARVEL  OF  SPIRITUAL  LIFE.  105 


from  infidelity,  a church  of  power  organized  and  half  a heaven  al- 
most filled  with  saints.  But  there  is  more  than  this,  great  as  it  is. 
It  is  a marvel ; but  there  is  more  by  far. 

Our  nation,  at  the  public  expense  and  with  the  plaudits  of  the 
world,  has  lately  brought  home  the  frostbitten  remnants  of  the  two 
hundredth  expedition  which  has  been  sent  in  search  of  the  north 
pole,  or  of  a northeast  passage  to  Asia.  Nearly  three  hundred  years 
have  been  spent  in  a vain  attempt  to  penetrate  the  icy  barriers  of 
the  north.  Wonders  of  endurance  and  skill  and  foresight  and  en- 
ergy have  been  displayed,  and  the  end  has  baffled  them  all.  They 
have  come  back  mutilated,  defeated,  sickening,  dying,  apparently 
empty-handed,  and  we  ask,  what  good  has  been  gained?  Science 
steps  forward,  and  boldly  balancing  life  against  intelligence,  affirms 
that  every  ship  which  rides  the  ocean  is  safer  for  the  knowledge  of 
the  magnetic  pole  and  the  aerial  currents  and  the  glacial  drifts  which 
these  men  have  learned  and  brought  back  with  them.  Every 
life  which  enters  a vessel  on  the  water  is  more  secure  for  their  toils 
and  dangers.  So  when  you  ask  what  these  men — these  itinerant 
preachers — who  have  braved  the  perils  of  the  forest  and  the  moun- 
tain, of  the  torrent  and  the  desert,  who  have  suffered  the  privations 
of  the  homeless  itinerancy,  what  they  have  done,  what  is  the  profit 
of  their  toil?  religion,  balancing  spiritual  life  against  formality, 
Christ’s  peace  against  death,  answers  : every  child  that  is  born  has 
a more  comfortable  place  in  which  to  grow  up  and  a more  virtuous 
society  in  which  to  be  nurtured;  every  man  has  a higher  motive  to 
be  honest,  and  every  woman  a better  security  for  character;  every 
hamlet  has  a better  opportunity  to  seek  peace  and  to  acquire  learn- 
ing; every  village  and  city  has  a better  law  and  a higher  sentiment 
of  right  and  duty;  every  sinner  has  a better  chance  to  repent,  and 
every  Christian  a better  knowledge  of  salvation  and  a clearer  call  to 
a life  of  joy  and  peace,  of  sanctification  and  honor,  than  would  have 
been  possible  without  these  itinerants,  their  labors  and  their  sacri- 
fices. Every  church  in  the  land  is  better  to-day  than  it  could  have 
been  if  the  Methodist  Church  had  not  been  organized  a hundred 
years  ago.  The  world  properly  knows  the  perils  encountered  by 
the  Arctic  explorers,  bnt  how  small  were  their  real  dangers  is 
seen  by  the  fact  that  less,  than  two  per  cent,  of  them  all  perished  in 
their  voyages,  and  this  includes  Sir  John  Franklin  and  all  his  com- 
rades. The  real  loss  of  life  to  men,  women  and  children  by  the  toils  and 
hardships  consequent  on  the  annual  removals  of  the  Methodist  min- 
isters and  their  families,  is  annually  almost  as  great  as  all  the  losses 
of  all  the  Arctic  expeditions  put  together  ; and  the  world,  the  church, 
religion  herself,  each  affirms  that  it  pays.  Every  other  child  of  man 


108  THE  MARVEL  OF  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 


finds  a better  world,  in  which  helplessness  and  innocence  can  thrive  ; 
and  peace, and  joy,  and  truth  and  right  are  all  brought  nearer  to 
their  final  triumph. 

But  this  strain  has  probably  already  been  pressed  till  the  hearers 
are  weary.  There  stands  the  church  of  our  choice,  chosen  from 
among  all  others,  because  first  of  its  glorious  doctrines  of  life  and 
perfection,  of  divine  authority  and  power ; and  second,  because  of 
its  marvelous  history  and  influence.  We  can  point  to  it  as  we  do  to 
the  dome  of  the  sky,  and  say  God  made  it,  and  he  has  adorned  it 
with  the  lives  of  the  saints,  with  orators  of  almost  angelic  power, 
with  deeds  of  heroism  equal  to  the  martyr  age  of  the  church.  It  is, 
as  God  has  builded  it,  on  the  sure  foundation.  It  is  the  mountain 
of  the  Lord’s  house,  filled  with  all  glory,  and  we  look  at  it,  and  at 
its  doctrines  and  its  members,  as  we  enumerate  them  all,  and  walk 
about  them,  simply  to  find  occasion  to  stimulate  our  desire,  to  offer 
praise  and  adoration  to  God,  the  Father  and  the  Son,  and  the  Holy 
Ghost,  as  we  exclaim  “ What  hath  God  wrought!”  “ Marvelous  are 
his  works ; in  wisdom  hath  he  made  them  all ! ” “ He  hath  given 
us  a goodly  heritage.”  Let  us  be  glad  and  praise  only  him ! 

We  may  not  be  allowed  to  close  even  a sermon  of  boasting  and 
adulation — though  this  is  not  such — without,  in  old  Methodist 
fashion,  appending  an  exhortation  to  duty.  Such  an  ending  in  such 
n presence  would  be  as  unorthodox  and  as  untimely  as  for  the 
Bishop  to  omit  to  ask  the  candidates  for  admission  into  conference^ 
those  two  strange  questions,  as  others  deem  them  : “Do  you  expect 
to  be  made  perfect  in  love  in  this  life?”  “Are  you  groaning  after 
it  ?”  which  last  question  some  squeamish  body  has,  I believe,  per- 
suaded our  General  Conference  to  smooth  for  the  tongue  of  our 
Bishops  into  rhetorical  jelly  thus:  “Are  you  striving  earnestly  after 
it?”  Do  not  let  us  be  afraid  of  the  old  form  of  question  so  long  as  we 
read  that  the  spirit  helpeth  our  infirmities  with  “groanings  that 
cannot  be  uttered.”  And  so,  my  brethren,  I beseech  you,  “suffer  a 
word  of  exhortation,”  according  to  apostolic  usage. 

1.  Never  leave  a member  or  a probationer  till  he  know x that  he 
is  converted,  till,  according  to  all  our  history,  traditions  and  be- 
liefs, he  knows  that  he  is  filled  with  the  life  of  Christ,  till  he  burns 
with  inextinguishable  blaze.  It  is  an  immense  danger  that  we  incur 
when  we  take  a seeker,  having  only  a desire  to  flee  from  the  wrath  to 
come,  into  our  church  as  a probationer.  In  such  a case  we  take  one 
who  is  not  alive  at  all,  and  join  him  to  a living  body.  We  need 
caution,  or  we  may  repeat  the  experience  of  the  unconverted  Paul, 
and  find  ourselves  joined  to  a body  of  death.  A fire  is  just  as  com- 
pletely extinguished  by  an  abundance  of  fuel  heaped  upon  it  in  dis- 


THE  MARVEL  OF  SPIRITUAL  LIFE.  107 


order,  as  by  water.  But  let  the  brands  you  bring  to  it  be  all  ablaze, 
and  no  matter  what  be  the  amount  or  order,  they  then  add  tire  to 
lire.  The  only  way  to  avoid  this  danger  is  to  make  thp  church  a 
place  to  convert  men,  as  well  as  a place  to  enjoy  and  get  dignity. 
And  it  will  do  us  good  to  remember  that  the  church  can  exert  her 
full  force  far  better  within  her  pale  than  out  of  it.  But  she  must 
never  let  a soul  rest  till  fully  converted.  It  is  only  a little  thing  to 
get  a probationer  to  join  a vigorous,  active,  sympathizing,  helpful 
caurch.  That  is  only  a short  step,  and  it  may  be  only  toward  for- 
malism. When  it  has  been  taken,  then  our  great  work  begins.  Let 
never  one  probationer  be  left  till  he  is  converted  and  knows  it.  He 
is  near  the  minister,  near  the  church,  near  to  Christ.  Get  him  con- 
verted with  p*ower,  let  him  be  born  again,  and  then  let  the  critics 
and  the  cynics  and  the  doubters,  and  the  lovers  of  the  Lord  Jesus, 
ask,  if  they  will,  “What  becomes  of  the  probationers?”  When  they 
are  converted  your  answer  will  be,  as  you  read  over  your  list  writ- 
ten up,  “This  man  and  that  man  was  born  there.”  The  conversion 
of  every  seeker  will  be  the  antidote  for  a superficial  revival.  It  will 
stop  all  cavil,  and  will  build  the  kingdom  of  Christ  in  truth. 

2.  And  when  men  and  women  are  converted,  stick  to  them  and 
build  them  up  in  the  faith  and  the  practice  of  all  duty.  For  often 
we  treat  our  converts  as  though  we  were  ashamed  of  them,  and  so 
we  leave  them  to  be  foundlings  at  the  doors  of  the  neighboring 
churches,  or  we  act  toward  them  as  the  amphibians  to  their  young, 
never  feed  or  brood  them.  Every  convert  needs  a Christian 
nurture,  and  we  should  give  this  to  every  one  born  at  our  altars  by 
our  labors.  We  ought  to  bind  them  to  us  with  hooks  of  steel,  with 
kind  brotherly  love,  with  a mother's*  tenderness  and  a father's 
gentle  authority,  so  that  escape  is  impossible.  If  the  Methodist 
Church  had  held  its  converts  as  well  even  as  other  churches  do, 
she  would  probably  have  at  least  three  times  as  many  members  as 
now,  and  the  very  effort  to  hold  them,  as  I Have  indicated,  by  getting 
them  thoroughly  converted  and  indoctrinated,  would  have  given  us 
a far  stronger  piety  than  we  now  have.  We  sometimes  repel  by  our 
pride  of  numbers  and  by  cur  pride  in  our  usages,  and  many  a time 
by  the  ignorance  of  our  unformed,  illiterate,  ill-mannered  preach- 
ing. Now  and  then  I have  seen  a man  who  thought  himself  called 
of  God  to  preach,  whose  chief  evidence  of  such  a call  seemed  to  the 
world  to  be  a total  misconception  of  his  office,  and  who  seemed  to 
think  the  power  to  abandon  modesty  was  a sign  of  grace  and  wis- 
dom, and  the  only  way  to  show  his  authority  was  to  fall  to  beating 
the  man  servants  and  the  maid  servants.  Indeed,  I believe  this 
latter  plan  is  one  of  the  specifics  for  getting  up  a revival  of  some 


108  THE  MARVEL  OF  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 


evangelistic  tramps  who  aspire  to  conduct,  as  they  say,  revivals,  who 
travel  and  “get  up”  “protracted  efforts”  at  fifty  dollars  a week.  And 
these  revivals  “got  up”  in  this  way,  get  down  quicker  than  boys’ 
kites  when  the  strings  break.  Let  our  ministers  do  the  thorough 
work  of  converting  with  the  wisdom  of  the  serpent  and  the  harm- 
lessness of  the  dove,  with  the  patience  of  love  itself,  and  with  the 
untiring  energy  of  him  who  neither  slumbers  nor  sleeps,  and  our 
converts  will  not  only  abide  in  the  church  which  gave  them-  birth, 
but  they  will  make  her  “as  a city  without  walls,  for  the  multitude 
of  men  and  cattle  therein.”  Her  sons  and  daughters  shall  fill  the 
valleys  and  overspread  the  plains  and  cover  the  hills  like  the 
heavenly  hosts  themselves,  an  innumerable  company  which  no  man 
can  number. 

3.  Again,  let  us  not  forget  that  conversion,  regeneration,  the  new 
creature,  is  but  a beginning  of  life,  and  that  our  instantaneously 
attained  perfection  is  only  another  name  for  a very  small  blessing, 
compared  with  the  maturity  of  grace  to  which  daily  communion 
with  God  can  attain.  “To  be  a Methodist  in  early  times,”  says 
Dorothy  Fairfax,  “was  to  be  rapt  in  devotion  and  rich  in  expe- 
rience.” It  was  to  talk  with  God,  to*  walk  with  him,  to  dwell  with 
him,  to  grow  in  him  as  a grafted  shoot  grows  into  a tree.  We  are 
in  danger  here  again,  I fear.  We  must  distinguish  sharply  between 
birth  into  the  kingdom  and  growth  in  that  kingdom,  between  the 
fullness  of  love  as  a state  attained  by  faith  and  the  character 
strengthened,  established  by  abiding  in  God.  For  admission  to  the 
state  of  peace,  joy  and  righteousness  only  faith  is  required;  but  to 
build  the  habit  and  character  of  righteousness,  time  is  an  element. 
Birth  is  instantaneous ; character  comes  only  after  struggle  and  con- 
flict. Life  is  from  life,  and  its  element  or  germ  must  begin  sud- 
denly, when  it  touches  what  is  to  be  made  a new  life.  Then  comes  a 
period  of  growth,  longer  or  shorter,  according  to  the  dignity  of 
its  position  in  the  scale  of  being.  And  finally,  the  life,  whatever  it 
is,  assumes  an  independence  for  itself,  and  acts  its  part  in  the  grand 
economy  of  nature  or  the  universe.  For  growth,  for  character,  for 
wisdom,  for  spiritual  development,  time  is  an  essential  element,  and 
we  shall  hurt  ourselves  as  a church  if  we  ignore  it,  in  our  eagerness 
to  emphasize  the  mighty  power  of  God  shown,  as  we  insist,  in  in- 
stantaneous or  sudden  conversion  and  in  immediate  sanctification. 
A child  grows,  a scholar  grows,  a saint  grows,  a preacher  grows, 
and  we  must  not  forget  that  growth  of  religious  character  can  only 
be  in  time.  Life  begins  in  a germ  and  requires  time  to  develop  its 
power  and  attain  its  results. 


THE  MARVEL  OF  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 


109 


Sometimes  even  the  dead  matter  with  which  we  are  to  build  re- 
quires time  also  to  get  itself  perfected  or  fully  made,  as  in  case  of 
the  cement  which  holds  our  bricks  and  stones  together.  It  needs  to 
dissolve  and  then  harden.  Builders  have  for  ages  wondered  at  the 
enduring  nature  of  the  Roman  cement  which  is  now  found  in  houses 
at  Rome,  built  in  the  time  of  Augustus.  That  cement  is  so  much 
better  than  any  thing  modern  art  knows,  that  a reward  of  thousands 
of  dollars  was  offered  for  a knowledge  how  to  make  it.  But  the  other 
day  in  digging  at  Herculaneum  the  workmen  found  the  recipe  for  it 
written  on  the  face  of  a wall.  And  all  the  secret  of  it  is,  ‘-'let  the 
lime  and  sand  be  mixed  and  remain  three  years  before  using.”  The 
lime  is  thus  dissolved,  and  the  whole  becomes  perfectly  hydrated,  so 
that  water,  lime  and  sand  are  united  into  one  substance.  Age  or 
time  is  the  transforming  force  in  this  as  in  fruits  and  in  characters 
also.  So  while  we  continue  to  demand  sudden  conversions  and  look 
for  instantaneous  sanctifications,  let  us  also  demand  for  our 
Christians,  and  especially  for  our  ministers,  a maturity  of  character, 
such  as  shall  make  them  men  in  Christ,  and  not  babes.  You  can 
make  a convert,  a neophyte,  a prosolyte  in  an  hour  or  less,  but  for 
the  real  saint  to  be  made  and  to  grow,  it  will  probably  need  forty 
years.  But  when  the  saint  is  made  you  have  the  noblest  work  of 
God.  And  when  a church  is  full  of  saints,  it  is  worth  the  while  of 
the  world  to  note  the  fact  and  honor  the  work.  It  is  not  quite  cer- 
tain but  we  have  neglected  this  important  element  of  Christian 
growth  or  nurture,  and  have  seemed  to  act  as  though  the  mere  re- 
generation and  sanctification  of  the  soul  were  enough,  or  more 
properly,  to  state  it  in  other  words,  our  usage  seems  to  imply  that  a 
sOul  having  once  tasted  the  heavenly  gift  and  been  made  a partaker 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  could  never  fall  away ; the  blessedness  of  life  is 
so  sweet,  the  power  of  the  world  to  come  is  so  mighty,  that  who- 
ever feels  the  thrill  of  life  divine  will  never  give  it  up,  but  with  his 
bodily  life.  And  so  we  leave  the  work  of  building  the  soul  or  char- 
acter to  accident.  We  forgef  that  one  real  example  of  virtuous 
living  is  worth  more  than  a dozen  prosolytes.  Our  organization  on 
the  plan  of  an  itinerant  ministry,  our  habit  of  preaching,  our  doc- 
trine of  conversion,  all  fit  us  specially  for  revival  work,  and  there 
has  always  been  danger  that  we  should  press  forward  in  this  line, 
neglecting  the  other  one  of  character-building.  We  have  done  well 
to  remember  for  ourselves  and  to  remind  the  world  that  nothing 
can  take  the  place  of  this  life  of  God  in  the  human  soul.  The  one 
primal,  indispensible  condition  of  salvation  and  of  growth  in 
virtue  and  godliness  is  the  new  creature.  Without  this  the  man  is 
dead — a lump  of  clay.  When  this  life  enters  the  nature,  then  a 


110  THE  MARVEL  OF  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 


Christian  can  be  nurtured,  a state  of  righteousness  can  be  main- 
tained. And  it  is  proper  to  say  here  that  our  system  of  class  meet- 
ings, our  love-feasts,  our  quarterly  meetings,  our  prayer  meetings, 
with  their  songs  and  testimonies,  with  their  experiences  told  and 
believed,  with  altar  work  and  individual  exhortations  and  persua- 
sions, are  all  adapted  to  building  character ; and  whenever  we  have 
neglected  this  we  have  failed  in  our  most  available  line. 

4..  There  is  one  other  sign  of  the  times  we  shall  do  well  to  heed. 
A question  or  two  will  hint  it.  Are  our  people  in  love  with  class 
meetings  and  social  prayer  as  formerly?  Have  we  not  rather  put 
these  on  the  defensive?  When  an  institution  thus  stands  to  repel 
attacks  it  is  losing  its  hold  in  some  way.  When  slavery  began  to 
defend  itself,  it  was  doomed  beyond  redemption.  Dram-drinking 
is  now  in  the  same  position.  Our  methods  must  not  stop  to  parley 
or  defend.  They  must  go  forward  and  deliver  blows.  Every  agency 
we  have  ever  used  is  as  available  to-day  as  in  the  good  old  times  of 
the  fathers.  And  our  wisdom  is  to  show  the  value  and  power  of 
each  by  using  it  with  a new  vigor.  The  warrior  who  stops  to  argue 
the  temper  or  beauty  or  the  utility  of  his  swtn’d  will  assuredly  lose 
his  battle.  But  when  he  smites  his  enemies  to  the  death,  then  he 
shows  the  value  of  his  weapons  and  his  own  prowess  at  the  same 
time. 

There  is  a sort  of  doubt  whispered  vaguely  in  the  air,  and  heard 
as  sometimes  a coming  storm  is  heard,  more  by  an  ominous  stillness 
than  by  sound,  whether  our  church  has  not  lost  in  some  way,  at  least 
a part  of  its  power.  The  question  implies  danger,  and  the  method 
to  avoid  such  a danger  is  to  push  into  the  thickest  of  combat,  to  be 
as  aggressive  as  ever,  and  to  take  hold  of  every  one  of  our  well 
tried  agencies  and  use  them  to  their  utmost.  Do  not  let  the  power 
of  our  preaching  fail,  nor  its  personal  point  be  blunted  for  any 
rhetorical  glitter,  or  logical  exactness,  or  literary  polish  of  the  ser- 
mon, written  in  the  leisure  of  the  study  and  read  in  the  pulpit,  with 
all  the  oratorical  graces  acquired  before  the  mirror,  or  under  the 
drill  of  the  elocutionist.  Do  not  let  the  social,  pastoral,  godly  inter- 
course between  preacher  and  people  become  disused,  and  remain  a 
memory  and  a myth,  for  any  desire  of  reading,  or  learning,  science, 
or  lecturing,  or  writing.  Do  not  omit  the  work  of  the  ministry  for 
any  secular  employment  whatever.  If  you  are  compelled  to  secular 
work,  let  another  take  your  office.  Preach  the  word  as  all  your 
work;  preach  publicly  and  privately ; preach  with  your  whole  soul, 
and  energy  and  time,  or  quit,  and  let  the  Master  call  another.  Never 
fear  but  he  will  take  care  of  you  if  you  act  with  common  prudence, 
so  long  as  he  wants  you  in  the  ministry.  Never  you  fear  about  one 


THE  MARVEL  OF  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 


Ill 


of  our  usages,  or  institutions,  or  methods,  so  long  as  you  apply  it 
with  vigor  and  prayer.  Some  people  fear  that  Methodism  is  losing 
its  power.  Some  of  its  members,  some  of  its  preachers  are  losing 
power.  There  is  no  doubt  about  that.  So  it  has  always  been  ; men 
lose  power  and  even  die.  But  Methodism  is  a force  in  the  world 
greater  than  ever,  and  it  is  destined  to  grow,  no  imagination  can 
tell  how  mightily.  Tennyson  sang  for  the  brook  : 

“ Men  may  come  and  men  may  go, 

But  I go  on  forever.” 

Weak  minds  fear  for  the  church.  It  is  losing  its  prominence,  but 
not  its  power.  Formerly  it  was  the  one  institution  of  the  world, 
greater  than  the  nation  or  than  kingdoms  and  empires.  Now  the 
school  and  the  market,  the  corporation,  the  society,  the  convention 
and  the  congress  have  risen  into  prominence  and  even  threaten  to 
overshadow  it.  Nay,  it  is  greater  than  ever.  Its  visible  magnifi- 
cence has  in  a large  measure  vanished,  its  ability  to  strike  the  senses 
is  less,  its  pomp  and  pageantry  are  indeed  diminished.  But  there 
has  always  been  danger  that  these  would  be  mistaken  for  its  living 
power,  and  that  men’s  minds,  and  hearts  too,  would  rest  in  them  and 
not  apprehend  the  essence  underlying  them.  Even  the  Bible — so 
boldly  is  it  criticised — is  a subject  of  fear,  lest  it  should  be  forgotten, 
or  grow  to  be  an  unfashionable  book  of  myths  and  obsolete  histories 
anfl  songs.  It  is  too  true  to  human  nature  to  be  outgrown  or  for- 
gotten. There  is  danger  that  men  may  under  estimate  it,  to  be  sure. 
But  we  must  remember  that  religion  lived  and  grew  before  there 
was  any  Bible;  and  some  of  the  most  interesting  and  pious  of  the 
saints,  as  Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob,  proved  themselves  worthy  of 
everlasting  honor  without  it.  Even  Moses  lived  eighty  years  with- 
out it,  till  Jehovah  gave  him  authority  to  begin  it.  We  hold  that  it 
is  to  abide  and  be  the  delight  of  ages  to  come  as  of  ages  past,  to  be 
the  instructor  of  the  children  as  it  has  been  of  the  fathers.  But  is 
there  not  more  danger  of  making  it  an  idol  than  of  losing  it?  Re- 
ligion is  greater  than  its  book,  for  it  was  before  it,  and  religion  made 
it.  Christ  is  greater  than  the  little  imperfect — so  St.  John  intimates 
— history  written  in  scraps  by  the  four  evangelists.  Great  as  the 
Bible  is,  Jesus  is  infinitely  greater,  and  religion  rests  on  him  as  its 
corner  stone.  And  even  he  found  it  expedient  to  go  away,  lest  men 
should  make  him  a king,  that  is,  an  idol,  to  be  worshipped  before 
God.  The  Roman  Church  to-day  worships  his  cross,  his  human 
mother,  the  sacrament  of  his  supper,  and  if  the  body  of  Moses  or  of 
Jesus  had  not  been  hidden,  we  might  to-day  have  been  bowing  down 
to  them  as  objects,  of  worship.  This  English  Bible  of  ours  is  the 


* 


112  THE  MARVEL  OF  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 


noblest  book  of  the  ages  and  of  the  universe.  But  Christ/ and  not  it, 
is  the  bread  of  life.  And  Christ,  as  we  shall  do  well  to  remember, 
has  promised  to  come  and  teach  us.  Let  us  take  him  as  the  bread  of 
life  and  feed  the  people  with  him,  with  his  words,  the  few  of  them 
which  the  Bible  has  preserved ; with  his  life  as  his  acts  and  sacrifices 
have  revealed  it ; with  his  spirit  as  he  gives  it  to  us  ; especially  with 
his  love  as  he  tills  us  with  it ; with  his  life  as  he  joins  us  to  him  and 
sends  it  through  our  souls.  Do  not  let  us  worship  anything  but  God 
and  his  Son,  our  Savior.  Honor  the  Bible,  revere.  Christianity, 
glorify  religion  by  a godly  life,  and  die  for  all  these  and  for  religion 
if  need  be,  but  worship  only  God.  All  along  the  battle  line,  where 
we  are  fighting  for  the  church,  for  the  Bible,  for  Methodism,  for  re- 
ligion herself,  there  is  a trembling  of  fear  lest  infidelity  or  atheism 
should  triumph,  lest  somehow  all  our  hopes  should  perish,  or  the 
church,  or  the  Bible,  or  religion  should  get  injured  in  the  fight. 
Never,  in  the  least,  fear  for  these.  Men  may  be  wounded,  killed  even, 
but  religion  never.  All  that  is  human  in  the  Bible  may  perish  in  the 
fierce  heat  of  the  controversy,  and  if  there  is  a human  element,  not 
joined  indissolubly  to  the  divine,  be  sure  that  it  will  be  burned’  out. 
All  of  man’s  work  about  the  church  may  be  destroyed,  indeed  must 
be  ; creeds  may  be  disallowed  and  dogmas  may  be  discarded,  but  not 
a jot  or  a tittle  of  God’s  truth  and  law  will  be  removed.  Infidelity, 
atheism,  materialism,  pantheism,  science,  evolution,  each  and  all  may 
mislead  men  and  delude  them  to  death,  but  religion  they  cannot 
touch.  She  is  spiritual  and  incorporeal,  and  not  one  of  their  weap- 
ons can  reach  her.  She  is  Truth — the  Truth — and  nothing  can  hurt 
her.  Our  Christian  ministers  often  allow  themselves  to  forget  this 
vital  distinction  between  religion  and  its  formulated  creeds,  between 
its  essentials  and  its  accidents.  It  is  love  and  life,  the  love  of  God 
and  man,  God’s  life  in  the  soul ; and  a creed  has  no  more  to  do 
with  it  than  the  voice  of  a man  has  to  do  with  his  life.  Do  you  not 
know  you  may  cut  off  arms,  eyes,  ears,  teeth,  tongue  and  flesh,  sur- 
geons cannot  tell  yet  how  much,  and  leave  the  man  alive?  So  we 
may  cut  off  creeds,  dogmas,  usages,  ordinances,  institutions,  biblical 
texts  even,  we  know  not  how  much  or  how  many,  and  leave  religion 
alive.  It  may  be  dutjr  to  fight  for  every  one  of  these  as  a man  would 
for  his  eyes,  but  if  they  get  to  be  idols,  as  is  possible,  we  must  cut 
them  off  and  cast  them  from  us.  “It  is  better  that  one  of  the  mem- 
bers should  perish  than  that  the  whole  body  should  be  cast  into  hell.” 
Let  a creed  go,  let  an  institution  go,  let  an  interpretation  go,  but 
never  let  the  life  of  God  in  the  soul  go ; never  let  Jesus,  the  indwell- 
ing Savior,  go.  One  of  our  Bishops  has  recently  said  : “The  grip  of 


THE  MARVEL  OF  SPIRITUAL  LIFE.  113 


religion  has  been  loosened.”*  With  all  deference  I must  protest  that 
he  has  used  a wrong  word  altogether.  * Not  religion,  but  men’s  no- 
tions of  it ; not  religion,  but  the  creed  which  men  have  framed  to 
express  their  little  ideas  of  it ; not  religion,  but  the  form  in  which 
men  have  tried  to  embody  it.  I am  aware  that  these  notions,  these 
ideas,  these  creeds,  these  forms,  are  all  that  some  men  have  of  relig- 
ion, and  when  anybody  carries  them  off,  they  cry  in  bitterness,  with 
the  selfish  Laban,  “Ye  have  stolen  my  gods;”  and  they  leave  flocks 
and  home  and  pursue  the  marauders,  not  thinking  that  an  idol,  or  a 
visible  image,  or  a form  of  words,  may  come  between  God  and  the 
soul  and  be  death,  and  that  therefore  they  should  be  thankful  to  any 
one  who  will  seize  them  and  cast  them  to  the  moles  and  bats.  Relig- 
ion lost  its  grip  on  this  world ! Never,  while  God  is  King  and 
Christ  is  the  Savior  of  men,  the  One  mighty  to  save ! When  relig- 
ion, which  is  life,  as  I have  to-day  insisted,  and  as  the  grand  dis- 
course from  which  I quote  the  sentence  argues,  with  far  greater  force 
than  any  of  my  words  can  have,  when  religion  loses  its  grip  on  this 
world  the  planet  will  be  a wreck  and  will  float  in  space  as  insigni- 
ficant and  as  aimless  as  the  dust,  which  scientists  say  Krakatoa  sent 
from  its  crater  a year  ago  to  cumber  the  upper  air  of  this  earth  ; use- 
less only  as  it  causes  the  eastern  and  western  skies  to  burn  with 
purple  beauty  when  the  sun  approaches  them.  Let  religion  lose  its 
grip  and  it  will  be  worse  for  man  than  if  the  fires  of  the  sun  were 
put  out.  It  has  not  lost  its  grip,  I protest  before  all  creation.  “There 
is  no  enchantment  against  Jacob,  neither  is  there  any  divination 
against  Israel.” 

My  Brothers,  it  is  our  duty  to  hold  this  religious  life  up  before  the 
world  as  its  only  hope.  First,  to  make  our  own  souls,  by  God’s  free 
grace,  the  temples  of  the  living  God — living  temples — examples  of 
Christ’s  life,  radiant  with  love,  strong  in  consecrated  faith,  and  glo- 
rious in  purified  character.  Then  are  we  fit  to  be  servants  and  to 
be  honored  with  the  Master’s  commission.  We  must  labor  to  make 
every  member  of  the  church  such  as  this,  to  present  every  man  per- 
fect in  Christ  Jesus.  After  this  we  may  glory  in  Methodism.  We 
do  boast  of  it.  We  need  not.  All  we  need  do  is  to  point  to  it. 
There  it  stands.  In  presence  of  Niagara  or  Mount  Shasta  you  need 
no  guide-book  description;  each  speaks  its  own  eulogy.  You  need 


* Centennary  Thoughts,  page  85.  I know  the  tone  of  the  book  is  very  inconsistent 
with  the  sentence  quoted,  and  I only  regret  the  expression  becanse  1 yvould  not  have  so 
beautiful  a work  of  art  marred  by  a single  blemish;  so  powerful  an  argument  weak- 
ened by  a single  unfortunate  admission;  so  grateful  a vase  of  ointment  affected  with 
even  the  trace  of  a single  fly. 


3 0112  042498516 

114  THE  MARVEL  OF  SPIRITUAL  LIFE. 


not  praise  the  sun  on  the  meridian.  So  our  church  wants  no  com- 
mendation. She  came  into  existence  just  before  Watt  gave  the 
steam  engine  its  power,  and  has  been  a moral  and  religious  force, 
keeping  pace  with  all  the  wonderfully  mighty  civilizing  forces  and 
agencies  of  the  English-speaking  race.  Along  with  the  growth  of 
her  spiritual  power,  which  has  revolutionized  all  religious  thought 
and  activity,  physical  forces  have  been  revolutionizing  every  form 
of  industry.  About  the  time  of  her  importation  to  America,  science 
began,  with  Priestly,  to  analyze  and  experiment  and  rearrange 
knowledge,  till  scarcely  a dogma  of  the  scientific  creeds  is  now  held 
as  then.  But  ami.d  all  changes  of  physical  machinery  and  scientific 
theory  our  church  has  held  to  the  one  doctrine  and.  the  one  practice, 
the  necessity  of  the  new  birth  and  the  blessedness  of  perfect  trust 
and  entire  consecration  to  God.  Millions  have  been  her  converts. 
Millions  on  earth  lift  up  their  hands  and  praise  her,  and  millions 
more  in  heaven  glory  in  her  power.  She  has  grown  in  the  midst  of 
the  battles  of  the  giants — science  and  education  — materialism  and 
and  philosophy,  doubt  and  denial,  criticism  and  agnosticism, 
spiritualism  and  diabolism,  too.  To-day  her  bark  rides  the 
ocean  as  proudly  and  as  safely  as  the  ship  on  Galilee  in  which 
the  Master  himself  was  sleeping.  We  need  have  no  fear  for  her. 
She  is  a part  of  the  great  religion  of  God  and  humanity.  She  will 
live  ; her  millions  will  multiply.  God  is  in  the  jnidst  of  her  and  he 
will  help  her.  But  how  about  ourselves,  brothers  ? Do  we  live  ? Is 
Christ  Jesus  in  us,  the  life  and  the  truth?.  Skepticism  and  criticism 
may  shake  our  foundations  of  creed  and  of  character ; and  if  we  are 
not  full  of  faith  we  may  perish  by  it,  but  the  church  and  her  Lord 
they  will  never  touch.  Let  us  be  sure  the  church  is  in  us — not  simply 
we  in  the  church — that  Christ  himself — not  simply  a belief  concern- 
ing him — is  in  us,  and  then  may  we  sing  : 

“ Who  in  the  Lord  confide 
And  feel  his  sprinkled  blood, 

In  storms  and  hurricanes  alide, 

Firm  as  the  mount  of  God.” 

As  we  ask:  “What  hath  God  wrought?*  and  answer  by  pointing 
to  the  stars  and  say,  like  these'  in  number  and  in  glory  to  shine  for- 
ever, have  been  our  converts,  our  deeds  and  our  triumphs,  we  may 
lift  our  hearts  and  pray,  trusting  Christ,  that  all  we  have  done  may  be 
but  a single  ray  of  light  in  the  dawning  compared  to  the  full-orbed 
glory  of  the  sun  which  tips  the  mountains  with  the  coming  flood  of 
day ! 


